A Dragon's Guardian Redux
by Jebest4781
Summary: It's said that Dragon's are sometimes guardians in their own right. Whether it be for vast amounts of treasure or a civilization. Thrusted into a new world, can a certain whiskered Uzumaki eventually survive the Game while protecting others? Rated M for language, violence and lemons. NarutoXHarem NarutoXGoT/ASoIaFXSoulsborne Please leave reviews.
1. Welcome to Planetos

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, SoulsBorne or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

 _Writing/Singing_

 _"Foreign Language/Flashback"_

 _ **-Scene Shift-**_

 **Chapter 1: Welcome to Planetos**

The ocean was slightly bathed by the partial, twilight sky with it's soft yellows and oranges as it shined against its surface. The waves rocked back and forth with the decent breeze pushing forward a ship with enough force to speed things along, yet not enough to make it's occupants uneasy.

Said ship was of relative size with a lean hull to promise durable speed. Not small for a personal vessel but it was big enough for a full crew for a long voyage as long as it was properly stocked. On most days when the wind was halted, at least sixty oars were stationed to help move things along. And it's masts were tall in order to carry several large, orange sails baring a golden spear piercing a red sun upon them.

Standing on the deck, a man breathed in the salty air coming from the Summer Sea. He had features of a salty Dornishman in his mid forties; with his smooth olive skin, thin beard that fitted along his jawline and around his mouth and well kept black hair that was cut short. He used to prefer having it long -like in his youth- but after years traveling the world and having many fighting experiences, he needed his hair short so his combatants won't grab onto his hair all that easily… or not having it caught onto tree branches for instance.

His black eyes stared into the distance and saw the immediate barrier between the sun setting-sky to a solid wall of thick, smokey clouds darkening everything underneath.

'Seems we've finally hit the heart of the Smoking Sea… and the Valyrian Peninsula.' Were the Dornishman's thoughts with a small frown as he gazed down and saw a growing landmass in the distance. 'Gods, how this place unsettles me.'

During his years traveling all over the world, the Dornishman had always avoided this place out of worry. He was brave enough, but was precarious due to what rumors he kept hearing about Valyria since it's downfall over four hundred years ago. Of monsters and demons rising from the ashes of the once great city of the world.

Asides from that rumor, the orange-red glow hanging from the clouds above because of the chain of volcanoes -the Fourteen Flames- were visible long before reaching the broken lands of the fallen freehold. This made the tainted land that is Valyria never got really dark, nor did it ever get bright. For the volcano chain and magma rivers running over the shattered landscape casted almost everything in a permanent orange-reddish glow that reflected back from the dark clouds above. Combined with the intensely toxic miasma of dark emotion choking the region, the rumored monsters and demons running around, the sweltering heat and the reported acidic rain… the place had a definite 'Hell on Earth' sort of feel to it.

Regardless with how impressive it is, the sight will always unsettle even the bravest of people. Yet many have ventured toward the ruined land -since it's downfall- in hopes of glory and riches with everything there is up for the taking.

But any that've been reported in entering it's boundaries for such things have never returned. For instance, Tommen II of House Lannister had ventured to the lands in hopes of increasing their riches and standing among the many kings of Westeros with Brightroar -their prized Valyrian Steel sword- in hand. Yet he was never heard or seen from ever again ever since making one last dock at Lys for supplies.

Thinking of this harsh blow to the House of Lions' pride made the Dornishman let out a chuckle.

"Prince Oberyn." Spoke a voice, breaking the salty Dornishman from his thoughts. "We're nearing Valyria."

"I know that, Addam." Said the mentioned prince without having to look back. "I can clearly see it before my eyes."

Addam, the sailor, shifted his feet out of small embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I-"

"It's no problem. You're new to the crew ever since we picked you up from Lys."

"Which I'm really thankful for you taking me on." Addam said out of outright appreciation. "I had nothing and I needed the work-"

"Like I said, it's no problem." Oberyn interrupted with a simple wave. "You'll get the full hang of things soon enough. Just keep doing your duties and things will be fine." He then turned his head around to barely see the newcomer. "But I understand you needed to inform me due to the captain's orders."

"For safety reasons, of course."

It was very understandable for any sailor out there -whether they be nobles to sell sails to pirates- for them to be weary of crossing these borders. Going through the Smoking Sea was the quickest path towards their destination instead from going around it. When doing so, everyone had to be on their guard for anything. If it was being ambushed by pirates, anything of natural causes… or worse.

Without saying anything else, the Dornish prince made his way across the deck and towards his cabin. Wasn't long on this small task before descending the small set of stairs before opening the door to his quarters.

The section of the ship he was currently in would originally be all for the ship's captain, but it was adjusted to be halved with a wall splitting down the entire space. And in his designated room is filled with necessities for his voyage alongside his beloved paramour.

Speaking of, his dark eyes landed at his bed where a feminine body laid within it's silked sheets.

She is quite the beautiful woman in her late thirties with her ravenous black hair reaching her lower back. Her olive skin tone helped boost her attractive and eye-catching appearance with her light brown eyes and thin lips. And on top of her smoothed, shapely body was an orange-yellow dress with some pieces of snake-themed jewelry on her ears and around both her neck and wrists.

This woman here is Ellaria Sand, the Dornish Prince's paramour and mother to four of his seven beloved, bastard children.

As if sensing her beloved's presence, Ellaria shifted over the bed as her eyes met that of his. "Hello, Oberyn, my love.

"Hello, Ellaria." He said, coming up to her and giving her a chaste kiss. "How was your nap?"

"It was rather nice," she answered, "but I wished I could've had someone with me here as I woke."

"Once we're in Meereen, we'll find a man and a woman for us to enjoy."

The two were very similar in many ways from what many have noted. Ellaria is quite adventurous and shares the same tastes as Oberyn in terms of finding others to enjoy varying pleasures with. Especially for playing both sides of the board in terms of their sexuality.

Ellaria smirked. "Good to know." Sitting up on the bed, she saw her love's expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing really. We're getting closer to Old Valyria as we speak."

"Oh, I see."

Ellaria somewhat didn't want to go to Mereen on this getaway trip of theirs from Dorne. She was originally fine with the idea as she never been there before in her life. She'd been to the other Free Cities in Essos to Sothoros even going to Yi Ti, all thanks for her beloved. Yet she never gotten to any of the cities in Slaver's Bay, which Oberyn wanted to take care of with the best of the three being in Meereen.

Asides from the small company of just Oberyn and the rented bedmates on this trip, she does feel saddened on them being without their children. Both of them rarely go out to these trips since both want to be sure they can help take care of them, even though four of Oberyn's seven children are adults with her first from him barely a teenager.

And on this little journey to Meereen, which has been about a couple of weeks so far; they've stopped by Lys, the Orange Shore, and Voltanis to restock their supplies along the way.

"We could've gone around it, Oberyn."

"I know, but it's just a small shortcut and would save us some days of travel."

Suddenly, they both heard a very faint boom of thunder from within the cabin.

"The hells?" Elliara muttered with a quirked brow before taking a peek through the nearest window with her beloved right next to her. There they saw the skies darkening a whole lot more as a storm quickly raged all over.

And before either knew it, the cabin rocked hard. The paramour had to quickly steady herself -with Oberyn's assistance- so she wouldn't fall down and possibly hurt herself.

"Are you okay?" Oberyn asked out of concern.

"Yes, I-"

*BOOOOOOOOM*

The prince/paramour pair heard the booming of thunder outside. Telling how loud it was, the bolts from the heavens were coming extremely close. And it wasn't just that, but the sound was rather repetitive at a fast rate.

*SCREEEEEEE-*

If that wasn't enough, the sound of something screeching was seemingly overpowering the thunder in the air.

Curiosity got the better of them, rushing out of the cabin in order to see what was going on. Barely ignoring the rocking and the screaming of the ship's crew as they were keeping things alright, Ellaria and Oberyn looked towards the storming sky and searched for the sound's source.

And saw something… _red_ burst through the clouds.

Well not really bursting through the clouds as a pure black hole seemingly tore right through the sky with cracks around its edges. Right after red colored star flew out of it, the hole seemingly closed up to leave no further trace of it. And this strange occurrence was quickly forgotten as the heavenly object streaked across the sky with something ethereal of the same color tailing right behind it… before it came right at them!

Quickly fearing on what might happen, Oberyn covered Ellaria with his body in order to protect her with his life. Yet this selfless act wasn't needed as the reddish-orange star from the heavens flew over them and towards the nearby island that's apart of Old Valyria.

Oberyn thought he -along with Elliara and the ship's crew- would've heard a loud bang or explosion soon after as the heavenly object crashed into the nearby land. Yet -to their surprise- there was nothing, nothing at all!

Some figured the reddish star could've landed much farther than they would've expected in not hearing it. Others thought the star thrown down from the heavens by the gods must of burned up and died before it even landed.

A thought crossed the Red Viper's mind as a decision was made. But he'd act upon it once everything was settled on his ship from the brief moments of chaos with the storm around them slowly dying.

 _ **-On the island-**_

*DONG*

"Kami… My head…" Groaned out a blonde haired teenager as he slowly grasped his head. It throbbed in pain along with the rest of his body. But the sound of the bell toll ringing loudly in his ears seemed to make things worse.

*DONG*

He slowly opened his blue eyes to see a smoke colored sky above him that had a hint of red in the mix. Feeling the need to get up, he slowly stood up, feeling branches snapping and the rough rocks underneath him. The blue eyed blonde stumbled in his step feeling much of his energy was gone -though it'll return once fully rested- but he willed himself to stand. Several moments passed as he steadied himself up by using a nearby tree for leverage.

*DONG*

"Where the hell am I?" He gazed at his surroundings and saw a small dirt path alongside a broken creek. The blonde teenager hobbled closer to the water so he could check if it was possibly usable. With his roughed out voice, he realized he was quite thirsty and needed to properly check for any injuries that he couldn't see.

*DONG*

The blonde sighed. "Well this feels slightly good." He then splashed himself in the face and used a clean part of his orange jumpsuit sleeve to wipe off the grime. He even had to pull off the metal plated forehead protector to properly clean off his face. Once he was done, he saw exhaustion on his whiskered visage. Gazing further down on his reflection, the blonde saw a hole in his jumpsuit that went straight through his black t-shirt and mesh shirt to see the flesh over his heart.

The blonde wondered how this happened before remembering recent events that led him to… wherever he was currently at.

First off, he was Naruto Uzumaki -Genin and future Hokage of Konoha- and earlier today he was assigned a mission with his friends to detain and return his former friend and rival: Sasuke Uchiha.

Things started out like any other day for the blonde Uzumaki as he slept in-in his rundown apartment… until Shikamaru came knocking at his door. And Naruto didn't know what was going on until his old academy friend dropped the bomb: Sasuke left the village. The Nara was asked by Granny Tsunade to gather a recovery team to drag the Teme's ass back. The blonde accepted the mission, quickly changed and got stocked up with every bit of equipment he had in his possession just in case of anything.

Once leaving his apartment, the two gathered Choji, Kiba and his nin-dog Akamaru, and Neji to complete the team. Naruto hoped both Shino and Lee could've come along, but Shino was on a family assignment out of the village while Lee was still recovering from Granny's operation on his left arm and leg. Despite the little set back, the group was about to head on out and stop Sasuke from leaving the border when Sakura stopped them at the gates.

His female teammate begged him to bring Sasuke back, stating that she tried to stop him last night, but failed in the process. In response, Naruto promised her that he'll bring him back no matter what. And with that, the group set out to bring Sasuke back.

It was quite easy with the team to reach those that took Sasuke since Naruto and his friends pushed themselves to the limit to do so. Coming in contact with the Sound Four; the recovery team learned that the Sound Nins' mission was bringing the Teme back to Orochimaru to in order to make him strong enough to not only be the Pervy Snake's next vessel, but also strong enough to kill Sasuke's older brother -Itachi- for the murder of his clan.

There were no strategies used. Rather both groups dropped off one by one as the Sound team kept handing Sasuke's container off one by one to distance themselves.

Naruto didn't know what happened to each of his retrieval teammates as he saw each of them off while he kept pressing forward. He wished that they'd be okay. And just when he was about to finally snag Sasuke's container, some bone guy that was apparently the leader of the Sound 'Four' showed up and snagged him away; making Naruto give chase once again. In an open field, Naruto fought against the arrival and was losing ground until Sasuke broke out of his container… changed for the worse.

Naruto tried to give chase, but the bone guy kept stopping him… until Rock Lee arrived!

The Uzumaki was surprised in seeing his friend and wanted to know what happened. In an enthusiastic manner, Lee explained that Tsunade helped speed up the recovery -with his Flames of Youth helping out- and along the way over here saw the others were fine for the most part. As Lee kept the bone guy busy, Naruto went off after Sasuke.

Eventually making it to the Valley of the End, the final battle site between Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and co-founder of Konoha, and Madara Uchiha, former leader of Uchiha clan and co-founder of Konoha. Once there, Naruto was shocked to see Sasuke's curse mark progressed so much before they confronted each other for the fight of their lives. They brawled and gave it their all as they traded punches and kicks, jutsu and techniques and neither one faltered.

As this went on, Sasuke explained further on what he must do before meeting up with Orochimaru. The duck-butt Teme told Naruto that he must gain a greater power and finally avenge his family to kill his older brother in the end. The price for gaining the Mangekyo Sharingan -the ultimate piece of arsenal in his family's arsenal- is to lose something very precious to him.

And for Sasuke -oddly enough- is killing Naruto with his own hands.

Far too long into the fight, Naruto was beaten up like a used training dummy as Sasuke's curse mark gave him so much power. He was so distracted in the fight that he didn't get the chance to unseal his stored weapons and possibly even summon some Toads for help. So Naruto subconsciously drew in much of the Kyuubi's power and used it to fight back. But even that wasn't enough after the beat down the blonde laid onto the dark haired asshole. Somehow the Uchiha got the upperhand and defeated Naruto.

That was until the blonde Uzumaki fully gave into the Kyuubi to have the fight be on even ground.

 _ **-Flashback Start-**_

' _I need to beat him!' Naruto growled as he struggled getting back up, but couldn't as he kept floating in the Valley's river. He felt so weak after using up his reserves!_

" _ **Little runt... You are so... damn... weak!"**_ _A dark voice growled out inside of the blonde's head._ _ **"Be grateful for letting me do what comes next."**_ _The Kyuubi soon filled Naruto's reserves with the fox's own chakra, seeing it wrap around the teenager like a cocoon._ _ **"After all... I'd rather see the damn Uchiha finally die by the end of this fight instead of you."**_

 _As this went on, Sasuke had his back turned from his fallen friend. Thinking that he already won, the Uchiha was about to depart so he can get to the Snake Sannin much sooner. All of a sudden, the duck-butt Teme stopped in his tracks, sensing something foul and dark from the river. Turning back, he saw his former teammate rise from the water with a reddish-orange cloak helping him up._

 _Without warning, Naruto punched Sasuke across the face; sending him across the river and slamming against the rockwall hard. The Uchiha held his face in pain as he heard Naruto roar out in pain with the reddish-orange chakra slowly burning him._

 _Back onto his feet, Sasuke looked and saw what has become of the Uzumaki._

' _He truly does look like a fox now.' Sasuke thought as he inspected his former friend's change. Asides from the odd slitted red eyes and darker whisker marks, the reddish-orange chakra formed around the blonde and formed a pair of ears and a singular tail to help add into the vulpine appearance. 'Where the hell is this power coming from?'_

 _Things soon went by so fast as Naruto leapt from his position and slammed against Sasuke before making him feel like a ragdoll. Flinging the Uchiha across the river several times and slashing against the teme with elongated claws. Even attacking with the ethereal chakra appendages to make things seem one sided._

" _I'm bringing you back!" Naruto roared out with fury in his eyes. "Even if it's on a fucking stretcher for all I care!"_

 _The beatdown lasted several more minutes until Sasuke felt he had no choice but to tap further into his curse mark, changing his appearance into his 'stage 2' form. With his hair turning greyish blue as it reached towards his lower back, lips turning purple with fangs poking out, and a black star-like tattoo right onto his darkened face. Once things settled after his transformation, Sasuke felt truly incredible, resulting in him madly laughing._

" _Such power! It feels so great!" Sasuke yelled out as he darkly smiled at the vulpine blonde. "Now I can't wait to feel a whole lot stronger once I kill you and gain the Mangekyo Sharingan!"_

" _You won't feel so special once I'm finished with you!"_

 _The Teme chuckled darkly. "Then I'd like to see you try, Naruto! Since there's no way I can lose now!"_

 _Dashing towards each other with clawed hands aimed against the other, they soon clashed. Naruto seemed to have the upperhand as he shoved Sasuke into one of the stoned feet of the valley. When the dust cleared, the vulpine blonde was surprised to see an odd bat-like wing defending the Uchiha… since it was Sasuke's wing that was formed from his back. Naruto realized too late as he was knocked back dozens of feet away by Sasuke's new appendage before another grew out of his back._

' _This is taking too long. I need to finish this.' Was the Uchiha's thoughts as he felt his reserves quickly burning out all of a sudden. 'After all, this is too new and I don't have proper restraint just yet.'_

 _With Naruto, he got up from his position from the valley wall and soon felt his left arm pretty numb. He tried to move it with his right hand, but flinched on the pain. 'I probably sprained or broke it in that last hit.' He thought with a harsh growl. 'Come on, you stupid fox! Help me and fix this!'_

" _That power of yours!" Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and eyed Sasuke across the way. "By using it, you're taking a big risk… Aren't you?!" No response was given, so the Uchiha decided to speak more. "You know, I find this setting quite fitting as the name applies: The Valley of the End! For we shall end things here and now between us! And only one of us will leave here alive!"_

 _Quickly forming hand seals, Sasuke poured so much of his chakra into this last attack that he's sure that he'll kill Naruto and finally gain the power that is rightfully his. Once that was done, he grasped his left hand as the attack came forth and covered most of his upper arm with the blue turned greyish black electricity. All due to the vial curse mark he was using. He looked towards his opponent as he readied himself for what's to come with the sound of a thousand birds crying out all at once._

 _As for Naruto, he felt the fox fully heal his left arm with the bones snapping back into place and the stinging sensation soon after. Holding out his right hand, Naruto concentrated and formed his signature technique. Though as he eyed it -while pouring what reserves he has from both his regular chakra and the fox's- it changed from a bright blue to a purplish black sphere of chakra._

 _Neither of these changes confused either combatant as they waited for the right time to strike. Both stared each other down as they were so focused that everything else seemed to drown out. Even the roaring waterfall right beside them was drowned out as Sasuke stood on Madara's stony foot and Naruto on Hashirama's._

 _With an unspoken word, an unannounced call rang inside of them, causing the two to leap at each other in the air. Their respective attacks were reared back so at the very last moment they bring forth their powered hands to hopefully land their desired hit. Both roared with fury as they drew closer and closer until they came so close at the very center of the valley._

" _CHIDORI!"/"RASENGAN!"_

 _The two powers clashed and everything seemed to go white for a brief moment until a kaleidoscope of colors emanate from the combined contact. Their chakras seemed to merge, creating a large sphere of dark purple chakra until it went completely black as the far reaches of space itself. Everything seemed to warp inside of the blackened sphere as the two teenagers kept up with their attack, pumping more and more power into it to gain dominance over the other._

" _NARUTO!"/"SASUKE!"_

 _With one final push, Sasuke was able to pierce Naruto's chest and seemingly grazed his heart. He smiled at this before he gasped out in pain as Naruto's clawed hand slashed at the Uchiha's neck, pouring out so much blood that it sprayed against the blonde's face and much entered his throat. Not wanting to lose and to let Orochimaru gaining Sasuke's eyes; Naruto swung his left arm and slashed at the Sharingan eyes, causing them to burst._

 _As this occurred, an explosion of pure power detonated from within the sphere; sending Sasuke out and impaled against an extremely sharp piece of earth. A result from the confrontation earlier. The 'last' Uchiha gasped out in absolute pain as he was now dying with his goal forever gone. With one last struggled breath, Sasuke cursed Naruto for what he's done before he left this plane of existence as his body turned back to normal._

 _Back inside of the sphere, things started to twist and turn as Naruto screamed out in pain with energies pulling him practically everywhere yet nowhere all at once. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he felt every fiber of his being burn red hot like Tenten's weapon furnace… No, it was much worse than that._

 _There was only one thing that came across his mind as everything in his vision went dark._

' _I'm sorry Sakura… I broke my promise… but at least Sasuke won't be in that pervy snake's clutches.' He thought as everything around him seemed to collapse. 'I just hope you can forgive me on that.'_

 _ **-Flashback End-**_

Shaking his head from his small bit of harsh reminicance, Naruto soon realized that once checking the water and his surroundings, he was in some sort of deep crevice. The Uzumaki he wasn't going to do any proper 'reflective checking' at this time, until he could find a brighter area to do so.

Before going any further, Naruto checked his weapons pack to see how much he had left in his arsenal and inventory.

'Okay… So I've got my all of my storage scrolls intact, so that's surprisingly good. A handful of smoke bombs, ration and food pills, my notebook, Gama-Chan and my ID with me… but no money.' The blonde sighed in frustration. 'Shouldn't have emptied my wallet before leaving… Then there's my 'Gutsy Ninja' book… and Pervy Sage's copies of Icha Icha.' With the last one, he groaned out as he realized Jiraiya must've slipped in that trilogy set without him looking the other day. 'Eh~ I could maybe sell it to someone for some coin.'

Shaking his head, he went back through his inventory. 'Hmm… About… Several dozen kunai, senbon and shuriken each, a good dozen or so of exploding tags and several dozen feet of wire. So that means I'll need to either buy more or have to make some once I'm home.' He listed off before looking around once more as a dark vibe radiated in the air. 'I'll need to use those sparingly. But for now…'

After popping in a food pill to refill some of his reserves, Naruto pulled out one particular scroll that was labeled 'weapons' and unfurled it a little to reveal his first weapon in his little collection. Biting his thumb a little to draw out some blood, he smeared it slightly with a resulting *poof* to reveal his first earned sword: the Kubikiribocho.

Naruto smiled a little when seeing this as he lifted it up slightly so he can put away the scroll before hoisting it up onto his shoulder.

When Team 7 were heading back to Konoha that morning after the mission at Wave was done, Naruto got up extra early so he could head over to Zabuza and Haku's grave markers. He did this to pay his respects, especially since he didn't know when he'd return to do this again.

Before leaving, Naruto heard a faint whisper in his ear… literally sending a chill down his spine. It was very familiar to him as he heard it once again as it seemed a little louder. He didn't know if it was real or not, but he definitely heard Zabuza -the Demon of Kirigakure- telling the blonde to take his sword. Not wanting to be rude, Naruto took it with little hesitation… and a bit of effort with how bloody heavy it was before sealing it in a spare storage scroll.

After that day, the blonde did what he could to practice with the Kiri sword as it was great weight training, but kept it a secret from the rest of his team and the rest of his village. He would've yelled out in glee that he got such a badass, legendary weapon… but that would've disrespected Zabuza's and Haku's memories if he did.

Though why he never used it on previous missions and in the Chunin Exams, he'd never know… Possibly felt that he wasn't ready to use it quite yet. Yeah that was probably it.

'I wonder how they're doing now in the pure lands above.' Naruto thought as he looked up the thick, cloudy sky. Shaking his head, the blonde sighed. "Welp… Time to get moving."

At a steady pace -as he was in no rush- Naruto went about to find higher ground so he could try and navigate his way back home. Though as minutes passed, he felt creeped out in seeing varying grave markers lying about. Made him wonder if he woke up in a rundown cemetery while questioning himself on how he got there to begin with.

All thoughts halted as the blonde saw a cloaked man coming into view. Being a bit precarious, Naruto slowly went up to the man and called out to him. "Umm… Excuse me!"

Hearing the boy's voice, the cloaked man wiped his head around to reveal his stony face. The man loudly hissed as he lunged towards the blonde genin. Alarmed at this point, Naruto dodged as the man tried to get closer, but a well placed kick knocked the man away. The blonde's instincts yelled out to strike the man down and he did. Swinging the decapitating knife, he knocked the man down with a deep gash into his arm.

"What the hell are you?" The shinobi asked as the man stood back up and tried to get in close, but failed as Naruto swung once more and this time sliced the man's head right off. As the body tumbled onto the ground, the teenager checked the man to see a peculiar site. What was stony skin was quite right as it appeared to be scales(?) covering his entire being. "How did this happen?"

Footsteps were soon heard, causing Naruto to look towards the side seeing several other stone men coming his way.

Seeing their companion dead on the ground, they hissed at the newcomer and pulled out some weapons: knives/daggers and crossbows. The blade wielders ran towards Naruto while the crossbow wielders took aim. Not wanting to be harmed, Naruto swung at the blade wielders to take care of them before picking up a pair of daggers and threw them at the crossbow wielders.

With them now dead, Naruto checked on their corpses to see if there was anything of value for him. Unfortunately, all that he got out of this little moment were some knives/daggers, a crossbow and a handful of arrows. Not wanting to waste some valuable resources, he took them with him before moving onwards.

 _ **-Elsewhere-**_

The sounds of hisses and groans were silenced as stone men were slain left and right by the end of a bladed spear. It spun in the air as it's owner took care of several opposition all at once. Quickly getting back into a reared position, the spearman thrusted his weapon forward to quickly severed the head from a final stone man standing in his way.

'Quite the amount there is here.' Oberyn thought as he brought his spear down to flick off some blood off his weapon. 'Then again, this place being a dumping grounds for these people is quite understandable.

After everything was settled at his ship, the Red Viper had decided he'd go see this fallen star that landed in Old Valyria as his curiosity got the better of him. He thought that if he could acquire the heavenly object, the Dornish prince could have a blacksmith reshape it into a weapon that could be similar to House Dayne's infamous Dawn. His paramour protested in him going, but Oberyn assured her that he'll be alright and be very careful when stepping foot upon the cursed land.

He wasn't a fool, like many in the past that weren't prepared for such a thing. Then again, Old Valyria will always make one unprepared regardless on one's experience.

After getting suited up and taking a small boat, Oberyn quickly rowed himself ashore while the crew had to fix up the ship as it seemed the freak storm from earlier caused some problems that wasn't seen right away. And hopefully by the time he tracked down the 'star' and headed on back, much of the repairs would be done before resuming their journey to Meereen.

The Red Viper was lightly armored with greaves, vamprances, gorget, spaulder, and had a steel codpiece. Elsewise Oberyn was clad in supple leather for added protection from both the stone men and anything else he might encounter. Over his byrnie, he wore his scales of gleaming copper but mail and scale, but mail and scale together wouldn't give him a quarter of protection against some very hitters if they wore heavy armor. And at his side was a round steel shield that was brightly polished and showed the sun and spear sigil of his house in the imprinted and raised design. As for his weapons, he has a snake handled dagger with a matching one for a short sword and a spear which was currently held in his more dominant hand.

Along the way towards his little goal, he came across several stone men and dealt with them accordingly. It saddened him slightly on doing this, but these men were infected with Gray Scale and it would've been better to kill them off than for him and others to suffer this fate. Though it came to one point he quickly found where the 'star' landed -with the crash zone seemingly a bit shallow- but it appeared to have moved.

Figuring the stone men had taken it somewhere, Oberyn picked up the trail as he'll catch his prey sooner or later.

 _ **-Back with Naruto-**_

"Where the hell do these guys keep coming from?!"

Naruto kept swinging his Kiri sword several times as he took care of the little horde of stone men. He was finally able to get to higher ground, which soon overlooked the ocean on one side and a large mountain range on the other. The blonde admitted it was quite the site to behold as he gazed at the odd ruins that seemed to blend with the mountains. Of course it seemed to piss him off that he possibly ended up on a deserted island of all places.

Asides from this fantastic sight before him, there seemed to be something… off about this place. He couldn't quite place it, but the Uzumaki thought this place was evil in some way.

Now despite his opinions on good and evil, felt this land was tainted in some way, shape and form. It wasn't the toppled and broken buildings, the shattered earth, the magma flows or even the perpetual stench of sulfur and freshly-lit matches.

No, it was the _feel_ of it.

Cruelty, malice, suffering and despair hung in the air so thick that he could almost taste it. And he didn't know why, but he also felt the Kyuubi would've liked this place in some way. Not just that, but the feeling rolling off the land would've made him really uneasy if he didn't deal with what crap he was dealt with growing up.

But it wasn't just that, but the Uzumaki thought that if he didn't leave this place soon and properly found a way back to civilization, this place might poison his soul one way or another.

While passing through additional ruins, he kept coming across these men and kept taking care of them. It seemed to be no end of them. At least he kept getting more and more stuff because of it. And with the daggers and knives he kept getting, he could either melt them down to resupply himself on ammo or sell them once finding civilization.

Getting tired from using his sword, he carefully placed it on his back with a strap he made before pulling out a pair of daggers he pilfered earlier. They weren't all that great appearance wise, but his eyes could tell they can work quite well until they needed to be sharpened later on.

Moving forward, Naruto caught sight of some stone men guarding something down a certain pathway. He tried to get their attention, but no avail as they seemed ignorant of him.

"Come on… Get over here assholes." Naruto muttered as he tried, yet failed, to get those men to move from their spots. "Okay… If you wanna to be bitches and guard things, I can definitely deal with you."

Pouring chakra into his feet, he walked up the stone wall to get high enough for a dive bomb attack. Positioning himself correctly, he stopped the chakra flow to fall from up high with daggers on hand. In swift motions, he slammed the blades into the men's skulls before kicking the third man away. Pulling the blades back out, Naruto dashed towards the final stone man and punched the man in the gut before kicking him off of the cliff and into the waters below.

"Now let's see what you guys were guarding."

Stepping over the dead bodies, Naruto soon reached what the men were guarding: a rotting looking chest. Stabbing a dagger into the lock, it easily broke to let the shinobi be able to open the lid to reveal…. "Holy Shit! GOLD COINS! YATTA!"

The blonde never seen so much gold in his life as he had the widest grin on his face. "Man oh man, I can't wait to cash this in! Oh I can only imagine how much Ichiraku ramen this'll get me and I can finally move out of that stinkin apartment!"

Pulling out a storage scroll, he opened it up and carefully drew a seal that'll store the rotten chest. Though he needed to summon a clone to help lift it up so it can be placed on the drying seal.

But while he waited, he checked the coins… and saw that he didn't recognize the markings.

'Must be some foreign currency… or something really old.' He muttered in thought as he inspected some of them. 'Though what's up with dragons(?) being the main design.' Wanting to deal with this later, he and his clone placed the chest onto the seal marker and sealed it up before moving forward.

After going around several corners, Naruto came across a ruined archway that seemed mostly intact. Though once he gazed through the opening, he saw a peculiar site several dozen feet away from him. The genin went down the stoney steps with curiosity filling his very being. He wanted to see what the oddity was.

Once coming close enough, he saw it seemed to be an odd metallic statue with ordinated cloth around it's waist, appearing to be kneeling a good dozen feet from a large pair of doors. Naruto guessed that it was 9 or so feet tall if it would've stood upward. Near it laid a giant halberd with an extremely long pole that could've been the same length as the statue if it stood. But an odd feature of the statue was the coiled sword sticking out of its chest.

His curiosity soon got the best of him as his hand was being pulled by an unseen force, making the blonde reached out towards the weapon. Naruto didn't know why he was doing it. Even as the Kyuubi's voice soon yelled out into his head.

" **Don't touch it!"**

But it was too late as the moment his fingers grazed against the pommel, the weapon turned to ash.

"The hell?" He asked as he soon felt the air filling up with malice. His eyes soon landed upon the statue as it started to rumble and metallic creaking soon followed. Without warning, it's right arm shot towards the halberd and grasped it before the other arm shot out, causing Naruto to fly into the air before skidding on the wet ground.

 _ **-Insert Dark Souls 3 OST: Iudex Gundyr-**_

"Dammit, that hurt!" Naruto growled out as he looked towards the statue.

It quickly rose up before pulling it's weapon out of the ground as it slowly made its way towards him. Feeling quite worried now, he pulled his butcher sword off his back for this fight.

Seeing it's opponent now armed, it stalked forward until it swung it's weapon to cover a vast range. Having no time to dodge, Naruto brought his sword up to block the swing, but it was too strong of a blow. He tried to hold his ground, but the following swing sent him flying to the side. Not wanting to fall off the edge of the cliff, Naruto slammed the blade into the ground to keep himself on the battlefield.

"Kami… I need to bloody move away from that guy."

Getting back onto the ground, Naruto quickly pulled the sword out and started to run with the statue following not far behind. It kept slamming the halberd down too fast for comfort, making the blonde fall onto the ground several times. When it tried to get in close, the genin rolled out of the way to avoid being chopped by it's blade.

Feeling annoyed by this now, Naruto ran in close and started slashing the statue several times, but it didn't do much when it the Kubikiribocho blade bounced off of it's armor. It did slash through the opening around it's waist, showing that it's possibly it's weak spot. Naruto attempted one more strike, but he was backhanded away from the armored golem.

"GAH!" Naruto yelled out as he soon impacted the nearby wall. Falling to the ground, he saw the statue coming closer with it's ax held high. "Well crap… Seems you'll be finishing off what Sasuke-teme couldn't."

Just when the halberd was about to come down -as he didn't have time to perform a substitution or form a clone- someone yelled out and gained the statue's attention as a spear sailed through the air and pierced the golem's neck. Turning towards the source, both Naruto and the statue saw a man in unique armor with a shield in one hand and another spear in the other.

The man hotly glared at the giant before he ran towards it, leaped and struck the being in the opening in its arm.

" _RRRRAAAAAAAWWWW!"_ The golem bellowed out as it's available arm pulled out the spear in its 'injured' arm and tossed it to the side before trying to pull out the one in its neck.

Coming up to Naruto's side, the Dornish man went to see if the blonde was alright. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I am and thanks for the little save."

"What the hell are you doing here boy?!" He questioned as he gazed to the side as the golem tried to pull out the second spear the Dornish man acquired earlier from one of the stone men. "This place is not meant for the likes of you!"

"Well sorry if I so happened to show up here without knowing how I got here in the first place!"

"Excuse me?!"

Naruto was about to respond when his eyes widened and pushed the man out of the way as the halberd came crashing down onto the ground. The two rolled in their respective directions before coming to a stop. As the Dornish man got back up to defend himself -and hopefully save the boy- the armored golem was already close by.

"Damn… And here I thought the Mountain was taller, but you take the fucking cake." Oberyn muttered as the moving statue literally towered over him. He was ready to take the strike with his shield firmly held when the armored golem lurched forward before sailing and falling to the ground some feet away.

"Get away from him asshole!" Naruto yelled out as he saw his Rasengan didn't dent the armor somehow. He then formed a hand sign and summoned several clones beside him.

"By the Seven…" The spear/shield wielder muttered in surprise as he saw the copies appear from smoke before leaping at the golem. Striking it with daggers on hand as each copy tried to pierce its armor to no avail. It swung several times, causing them to seemingly die as they literally went up in smoke.

"Hey ugly!" The real Naruto called out as he held up his large sword with both hands with a cheeky smirk. "Think you can catch me?!"

Taking the bait, the golem jumped into the air as it tried to crush the blonde. But he dashed out of the way as he pumped his legs with a lot of chakra. It kept on swinging, but Naruto dodged every time.

"Oh calm down ugly!" Naruto taunted before dodging yet another strike. When the halberd came crashing down, the Uzumaki kicked it away before swinging Kubikiribocho at it's upper chest. "Oh look at you and your big swings! Yet you can't hit me at all!"

The Red Viper could only watch in slight awe as the boy was quickly moving away from the larger being as he performed odd acrobatic moves each time. The whiskered boy even got on top of the golem's weapon before delivering a chakra empowered kick across the head. And that was before it formed some etheral blue sphere in his free hand before slamming it down, causing the armored golem to slam into the ground. With it detracted, the blonde slashed at what openings it had. Hell, the man could only wonder how the boy was holding such a big bladed weapon that even he would have a hard time wielding.

Though not wanting to be left out, the Dornishman looked towards the side to see his spear. Running towards it, he grasped it and ran at the golem as he delivered quick strikes against the openings. Both man and teen worked in tandem to try and take down the golem until it soon bellowed out an unholy sound.

 _ **"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"**_

The two humans got away and gained a surprised, yet worried look on their faces as something seemed to burst out of the golem's left arm and helmet. Sending both armor pieces away as gallons upon gallons of black substance leaked out and formed something from possibly one's nightmares. Part of the substance attached itself against a nearby tree and pulled it out of its roots before it formed into a claw-like appendage to replace its lost limb. By the time it finished leaking, the two saw what appeared to be an inky snake with glowing blood red eyes.

"Oh hell no!" The shinobi yelled out. "Not another giant snake! Why do I have to deal with those almost every damn time!"

Not wanting to comment on that, Oberyn quickly moved out of the way from the monster's gaping jaw as it tried to take a bite out of him. With the unsuccessful attack, the ink-like monster swung its mighty tail around, causing Naruto to block it with his sword before having to jump out of the way from the tree claw coming his way. With no time for evasive maneuvers, Naruto swung his blade hard, impacting against the hardened trunk and branches to at least hold it off.

The spear/shield wielder went towards the monster's side and started to slash and bash with his weapon. Little could be done in terms of damage now as the inky, lizard/snake-like monster seemed to regenerate at a fast pace. Before anything else could be done, the monster bellowed out a roar once again in pain as it was shot across the battlefield, courtesy of Naruto's Rasengan.

"At least that gives us a little bit of space." Naruto muttered before looking at the man fighting alongside him. "So are you doing alright on your part?"

"I think so." The Dornish prince grunted out as he tried to think of a way to defeat this monstrosity before looking back at the blonde boy. "Though I've got to ask. How in the seven hells are you doing all of that?"

Looking at him oddly, while hearing the monster roar in the background, Naruto soon gave him a cheeky smirk. All the while as the blonde pulled out several knives with exploding tags attached. "With chakra, that's what."

Seeing the monster run closer, Naruto poured chakra into the tags to ignite them before throwing the knives at the beast. Once impacting it's face, they detonated, causing it to bellow out a painful cry. With it distracted a little more, the genin summoned more clones before they leaped at the beast.

"I don't know about this chakra you're speaking about boy, but can you order your… copies… to get that halberd out if it's grasp? I might have an idea on how to finish it off… and I'd like to skewer the beast with it's own weapon." The man said, getting Naruto to nod in response before yelling out the order.

Nodding in tandem, the clones continued their assault with chakra empowered physical blows to knock the beast around. Naruto ran with his sword coated with chakra while the Dornish man soon followed. The blonde slid in close and upwardly slashed at the small opening in the arm to get the armored arm free from the beast.

Dropping his spear and shield, Oberyn rushed towards the falling weapon and grasped it in both hands before swinging with all his might to injure the beast several times. It roared in pain as the cuts went deep on its face before Naruto leaped into the air and swung his sword down in a decapitating motion. The attack landed it's mark, but the blade was stuck at the monster's neck.

"Will you just die already?!" Naruto roared while forming a Rasengan before slamming it down onto the blade. Upon impact, the Kubikiribocho started to move deeper and deeper as cracks appeared on the blade. Both humans exerted in this last moment as Naruto pushed his Rasengan deeper while the halberd went up through the mouth to finally kill the beast.

 _ **"▄▅▄▅▂▂….."**_

With it's final roar, the monster's form seemed to fall apart before the inky substance burned away. Naruto landed on the ground, with his heavily cracked sword, next to the tired man as he dropped the metallic halberd. With a resulting *CLANG*, the two men saw the rest of the armor fall onto the ground with all of its pieces still intact.

"Man… That was one hell of a fight." Naruto chuckled in mild bemusement as the Dornish man responded in a similar fashion.

"That it was boy. That it has." He said as he felt somewhat relieved after defeating the monstrosity. Throughout the fight, Oberyn kept replacing the beast with the man who killed his sister and her children. Not a good replacement, but with how big the monster was, it was hard not to visualize it being someone else. "Though I didn't expect to actually encounter an Old Valyrian beast today."

"...A what now?"

"You don't know what that was boy? From the old tales that depict on what possibly remains here?"

"No…. I"m pretty lost on what your talking about."

The man could only sigh a little on this. The boy could either be playing around, be very ignorant, or be telling the truth. But the later could be very unlikely. "How about we make some introductions, boy. After all, we did fight that ferocious beast together."

"Yeah, that would make sense." The blonde muttered before holding out his hand towards the man. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konohagakure."

The man only blinked on the little title there since he has no idea where this Konohagakure is at all. Even the boy's name sounded odd, even though it seemed similar to those from Yi Ti, a region in western Essos. He'll probably get some information from the blonde when the time's right.

But for now, he doesn't want to be rude at the present moment as he grasped the boy's hand and shook it.

"And my name is Oberyn Nymeros Martell of House Nymeros Martell and Prince of Dorne."

 _ **-End Chapter-**_

 **AN:**

 **Well… here's the rewrite everybody. Would've gotten it out sooner, but work took up a lot of my time alongside family and catching a cold quite recently.**

 **Like I said before in my previous notice on 'A Nobody', this story is gonna be reworked in order to do better developments, fill in specific details I didn't think of before and to hopefully make it flow better. Previous version seemed fine at first, but when getting into the later chapters things seemed either rushed or somewhat didn't make sense. So I'll need to clear things up along the way for many of you readers since Got/ASoIaF tends to be a bit confusing on most topics along with me using stuff from 'From Software's' game series.**

 **I mean I had gotten a lot of reviews and PM's with people pissed off on going into other series that didn't meet with what I originally intended, but I wasn't as people didn't know more details in Dark Souls like with the Hollows being not limited to Bleach in terms of enemy names for instance. But if I do use elements from other series outside from what I originally tend for my story, I'm doing so to be as close to the current story's feel.**

 **Now there's one thing I decided to add here just so you know on what I originally intended and what I found buried in my notes. And other details will come up later.**

 **With Zabuza's sword, sure the idea of a sword grave marker is cool and all but what if someone nefarious decided to take it and use it for his/her own goals. In most customs, it's considered** _ **very**_ **disrespectful in doing so unless you've gotten permission beforehand from the dying person or doing something else to honor the fallen warrior by taking up his/her weapon. And of course -in canon- Suigetsu took it back in Shippuden. So in my story here, I wanted Naruto to at least take it for story events.**

 **Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!**

 **R &R**


	2. A small stroll through Old Valyria

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, SoulsBorne or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

 _Writing/Singing_

 _"Foreign Language/Flashback"_

 _ **-Scene Shift-**_

 **Chapter 2: A small stroll through Old Valyria**

"Really? You're a prince?" The blonde shinobi thought as he added the man to the list of royals he met in the past. 'There was Koyuki and Granny technically counts.'

"Why of course." Oberyn said with a little smile. "You probably have heard of the great Red Viper of Dorne."

"...Nope."

"...What?"

"Sorry, but I've never heard of you before at all, Oby-san."

"It's Oberyn."

"Yeah whatever." Naruto waved him off, getting a small twitch to the man's eye. "So you said that thing was a Val-beast or something?"

These two were still standing in the battlefield in where they faced off against that odd monstrosity that inhabited the giant suit of armor, which is currently spread out in most places in the area. There were still the helmet and left arm pieces scattered about while it's halberd lied at their feet. Some slight exhaustion was shown on the two humans, but a little break from all of the action could help them out.

"Valyrian beast and I never believed them to exist before." The prince then motioned his hand to the nearby armor. "But this… this ended up confirming things." Oberyn said as his foot kicked part of the armor a little.

"So I don't know about you Oby-san, but do you want something from out of this. You know, for your troubles?"

"...I don't know what you mean, Naruto."

Answering this, Naruto hoisted up the large metallic halberd with little difficulty as he looked it over. "Well... this is a pretty good weapon and as much as I'd like to keep it; not only is it not my style, it's way too big for me to use."

"You say that since you have that fucking big sword right there." Oberyn eyed the Kubikiribōchō with the varying cracks on it.

"First off, I trained my ass off to carry and wield that beauty." Said the blonde teenager before he put his attention back at the halberd. "So do you want it? It's as close to a spear as you can get so far."

"I would like it but I struggled in carrying, let alone using the damn thing."

"Yeah, I saw that. Maybe I could melt this down and you could have it to your liking."

Hearing this suggestion, the Red Viper took a glance at the large weapon as something about it seemed familiar to him, but he didn't know what it was. In fact, the same went with the large set of armor. Giving the genin a nod, he accepted it… but there was one problem. "How the hell am I going to carry that in the first place? I mean it's fucking heavy for Seven's sakes."

Realizing this, Oberyn was pretty much right. So Naruto pulled out a sealing scroll and unfurled it a little before pulling out a little ink set. This got a raised look from the Dornish man as he saw Naruto write an interesting pattern onto the paper. Grabbing the halberd, the blonde carefully placed the tip onto the paper. Reaching down, Naruto channeled chakra into his fingertips onto the seal, causing the halberd to disappear in a plumb of smoke.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Yelled out the Dornish prince as he witnessed the spectacle. "WHERE'D IT GO?!"

Naruto gained a raised look and spoke back. "I sealed it into a seal, Oby-san. I thought people knew shinobi use chakra."

"There you go again with this chakra. What is it and is that what you are? A shinobi?"

"Yeah. I mean who doesn't know what shinobi are. We're in the Elemental Nations for crying out loud."

"This is the first time I'm hearing this, boy. And Elemental Nations? We're currently in Old Valyria, which is apart of Essos and next to that is Westeros." Said the Viper. "In all my life, I've traveled across this world and yet I've never come across a place called the 'Elemental Nations'."

Naruto looked at Oberyn to try and see if he was telling the truth, only to find no lies in what he was saying. This only left the teenager more and more questions as he scratched his head in thought.

If he was not in the Elemental Nations, then where the hell is he?

"Look, we can play twenty or so questions later, Naruto. I'd like it if we could start moving before any of those stone men or any other monstrosities start showing up." The prince said as he soon eyed the doors on the other side of the former battlefield. "How about we try and talk a little in a possible safer area so we can talk a little more, if that's alright with you."

Sighing a little, Naruto compiled as he and Oberyn headed towards the door. Though the blonde stopped for a moment and summoned a clone. The Red Viper looked in confusion before seeing the boy hand the copy a scroll and ink set before making its way towards the suit of armor. The Dornishman figured the boy wanted to take the armor set with him to possibly sell or melt it down into something else. After all, it did look pretty nice in detail if he guessed correctly.

The two placed their hands onto doors and pushed with all their might to get it opened. It took quite the effort, given with how old the doors were and them being unmaintained since Valyria's fall. Loud creaking was soon heard as the doors gave way and opened up for the two travelers. By the time they were wide enough for Naruto and Oberyn to walk on through, the clone returned with the armor sealed up along with handing Oberyn his spears and shield for the coming travels before dispelling.

"Though I've gotta ask a simple question, Naruto. But have you seen a fallen star land nearby, perchance?" All Oberyn received was a questioning look from the Uzumaki. "How could you not? It was bright as fiery blood as it came here."

This got a bit of weight to form in Naruto's gut upon hearing this. Fiery blood? Sounds something close to the Kyuubi's chakra. And this only left the blonde several questions with hardly any answers with how he got here… he thought.

This reaction didn't go unnoticed by the Red Viper as he could tell his small companion had something to hide which pertained to his sought after fallen star. But he'll dwell into the matter later upon safe grounds like he intended.

Walking through the small path, the pair saw grave markers littering the area to keep up with the foreboding feeling in the air. They were glad neither of them ran into any trouble, but kept up their guard for what may lie ahead. As the path eventually lead up a steep hill, the two soon saw a shrine of sorts and silently agreed to check it out if it could be possibly safe.

When inspecting the outward appearance of the shrine, Oberyn couldn't help but marvel a little on how intact it appeared to be. Despite the slightly ruined feel of the building, it was a great and wonderful example of Valyrian architecture. Inspecting the door, the two stabbed their weapons into the ground before pushing the entrance inwards to enter the possible safe area for them to rest and talk.

Though what they didn't expect once stepping inside was seeing several large stone thrones, easily shown with the natural light coming from the shrine's entrance. The two were quite curious on the find as they walked down the stairs to see a fire pit that hasn't been used in centuries. Not minding that now, they got closer to the thrones to inspect them by walking up a different set of stairs and saw sigils on each of their backs. On the left had a crab, the right had a seahorse and in the middle had a simple-looking dragon set in a circular pattern.

Pondering on their significance, the Red Viper soon realized what these sigils represented. "By the Seven… The thrones of the ancestral Houses of Celtigar, Velaryon and Targaryen." He said in slight awe as he inspected the room a little more as thoughts filled his mind. "This could've been a council chamber for the soon to be exiled houses of Valyria before the Doom."

"And what's so important about them anyways." Turning towards the blonde, Oberyn saw the whiskered teen having a little notepad and writing tool out as he drew a little. "And you keep talking about Vuleeria-" "Valyria." "-several times now, but never told me what it was to begin with."

"Hmm… I guess you're right, Naruto." As he came closer to the blonde, he saw him draw each of the house sigils with good details. Tapping him on the shoulder, Oberyn ushered the shinobi to follow. "I'll start talking while we inspect this place. Though I'd recommend we stick together just in case of anything."

Naruto nodded as he placed his pencil and notepad into his pouch before following the older man. Oberyn soon started to regale the tale of the most infamously known land in the world while walking through one corridor, with two freshly made torchlights. A grand empire that practically ruled Essos centuries ago and in the center of it all was Valyria itself. The blond Uzumaki gained a sense of awe and wonder while hearing the story as the two inspected the shrine for anything of value.

The two eventually found what appeared to be a small library given the few tables placed and the many books littered around the room. They inspected the ones on the floor to see that they were completely ruined by the many rats that nibbled on them over the years. Deciding to explore a little on their own, the two separated to check out the different tomes.

Going in one section, Naruto didn't know where to start looking until his eye caught something of interest. Roughly in the center of the room's section laid an opened, dusty old book. He was curious on why it was placed there with several other books placed on shelves around the room, yet this one was all by itself. The Uzumaki figured it could've been quite significant and so upon closer inspection, Naruto looked at its current page and tried to read it.

"Va… Val… Valari… No that doesn't sound right." Naruto muttered as he tried to pronounce the name on the cover. He didn't know why he could somehow and somewhat read this, since it wasn't written in Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana; yet the blonde could. Hell, Naruto even wondered now on how he understood Oberyn in the first place if there was a language barrier or not. Taking a bit of time to pronounce the word, but he thinks he got it. "Vuh-leer-ee-a… Okay I think I got the annunciation right… So that's how Valyria is spelled out."

Carefully dusting off the page of dust and web, Naruto gazed at it's written passage; in which he slowly read to himself.

 _This... is the tale of the Ruined Country of Valyria._

 _The smoke and sea have taken toll of the once great capital of the empire. What was once a city of wonderment, is now just a mere shadow of its former glory. Towers that could've touched the very skies above, where dragons have roamed free and lived in peace with humanity. Valyrians were the best at everything: agriculture, structures, crafting, etc. And for 5,000 years, it was the center of civilization itself and things seemed to be at peace… Until it happened._

 _We held each other close and turned our backs upon the end. The hills that split asunder and the black that ate the skies. The flames that shot so high and hot that even dragons burned. Would never be the final sights that fell upon their eyes. A fly upon a wall, the waves the sea wind whipped and churned... A city for a thousand years, and all men that learned; the Doom consumed it all alike, and neither of them turned._

 _The ruins of Valyria is all that remains… As the Doom rules it, with demons and flames… And the heirlooms of the once great empire… In hopes that it'll save the world one day from the Forever Winter if it'll ever come._

 _Tis dark for now, and not a soul stirs for who knows when. But remember, Fires are known to fade in quiet and only Dark will remain… Yet it might return with Embers and Ash..._

Naruto was so drawn into reading it -with a sense of worry that came from the written words- that he jumped in fright when a hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Woah there. Sorry if I startled you."

"What the hell, Oby-san?! You should've warned me before doing that!" The blonde stated as he tried to calm his beating heart.

The older man could only chuckle. "True, but where would be the fun in that." Looking at the opened book, the Dornish prince saw the passage and shivered a little in remembrance of hearing the poem for the first time. But the additions to it seemed mildly interesting to him.

"So… Did you find anything good?"

"Somewhat, but I kept checking several of them along the way and the majority's written in High Valyrian and some other dialect I'm not familiar with." Came the man's honest answer as he scratched his beard. "With High Valyrian, it'll take time to decipher and translate. As for the other ones, I'd rather get some help from some people I know either back home or at the Citadel." Oberyn then scratched his head in frustration when looking back at the books. "Though it'll be a hindrance to have men come to and fro in order to move all of _this_ to my ship."

"Maybe I can seal those books up for ya so it'll be easier to transport to… well wherever you're heading off to after we leave this place."

The Dornishman merely gave Naruto a raised look. "Are you sure? Won't you just steal them from me once we part ways and not tell me the secret in getting the books out of one of your scrolls?"

Knowing what he's talking about, Naruto frantically waved him off and tried to defend himself. "Hey I wouldn't do that at all! I literally have no clue where I'm at and I might end up lost in the process if I don't have a proper guide!"

"True, but what would you do to assure me that you won't be taking the books, along with that one halberd you promised to let me keep."

Being a bit worried now, Naruto searched his person to find something of great value to lend to Oberyn for the time being. Soon a thought came to mind, causing Naruto to unzip his slightly ruined orange/blue jumpsuit with the hole over his heart. The Martell raised a look on what Naruto was doing as he saw the odd metallic mesh shirt underneath before his eyes landed on the piece of jewelry around the blonde's neck.

Taking off the necklace, he presented it to the Red Viper. "You could hold onto this if you want. Either that or my forehead protector."

"And what is it exactly?" He questioned as he took the string and held the green gem with two metallic beads up at eye level to inspect it. He admits that it does look good and saw the nice quality of it.

"It's Granny's necklace. She told me that she got it from her grandfather -the first Hokage- and it had a lot of significance and history behind it. All I know is that she gave it to her younger brother and her lover at different points in time... but both of them died because of war; making her think it was cursed."

Oberyn could hear the honesty in those words and felt the bit of sorrow towards the end. Whoever this woman that Naruto is referring to as 'Granny' must've entrusted Naruto quite a lot to give him this piece of a family heirloom. Even with the bit of 'Hokage' referred to as some sort of title perhaps.

"I see. Anything else about it?"

"Yeah… If you wanted to properly sell it -which I wouldn't since I really like that necklace- it'll be worth about three gold mines." Naruto stated, getting a slight, wide eyed look from the Dornish prince.

"...Horseshit."

"Hey, I'm not making that up!" The Uzumaki complained since he was telling the truth. "I had the same response back then when I heard that, even when several others told me that bit of information. So I went to a jeweler with none of those people to bring the info up. And sure enough, the one man said it was legit and tried to take it off my hands without me knowing."

'Okay… Seems Naruto's telling the truth.' The Martell thought before inspecting the necklace a little more. 'Though I don't know if the price would change from where he came from since no one would really know the real history behind this to up the price. Hell I don't even know who this 'first Hokage' is with his exploits. So as for anyone else, it'll be just a sentimental piece until I learn more from the boy.'

Shaking his head a little, Oberyn looked at the other piece of collateral Naruto was offering with the leaf-shaped symbol etched onto its surface. "And the forehead protector?"

Gaining a small smile, Naruto explained a little. "It belonged to Iruka-sensei, my academy teacher. Throughout my years learning under him, he did what he could to help me out since I failed graduation several times. But he never gave up on me, even after I did this one stupid thing because of it… Well long story short, he gave me his and passed me so I can continue on with my dream."

Acknowledging the significance on both items, Oberyn handed back the necklace before taking Naruto's forehead protector since it held more weight of value than the necklace. Certain objects can be worth more, even if they are just simple trinkets. After all, he and his brother -Doran- kept things their departed sister had on her at all times so they can be closer to her, even in death.

Once pocketing the piece of protection, they raided the small library for the majority of its contents. It helped that Naruto's shadow clones were able to gather quite a lot and carefully piled things up for the original to get things ready for the mass sealing. By the time they were ready to exit the room, the small library was pretty much barren of literally everything, except for the furniture. Though one thing was left out and Naruto insisted on carrying it until they find some more stuff to seal up into one of his scrolls: the map of Valyria.

"...So because of the cataclysm -which was called 'The Doom'- islands currently make up most of Old Valyria's territorial remains?" Naruto questioned as Oberyn pointed things out on the map in comparison to the current one he knows from memory.

The Dornish prince nodded as the two went down one particular corridor, which branched off from the main chamber. Oberyn was giving a little lesson to the young shinobi like a maester that he could've been, but dropped out when he was bored in his younger years. It is quite interesting to see the boy be a bit interested on the current subject, even after he showed Oberyn the map of the Elemental Nations.

The Martell was fascinated in inspecting the map, but would do more in detail once in a better light as torch light can only go so far. Even though Oberyn couldn't entirely read the written language on the map as it mostly looked like chicken scratches with some looking similar to the written language back at Yi Ti, but it seemed quite genuine.

Yet Oberyn had a bit of trouble being convinced of Naruto coming from one of the locations shown. Having a sinking suspicion that Naruto didn't belong in this world, but probably from another.

'Possibly he's the one I saw coming down from the heavens earlier?' The Red Viper thought as he eyed the blonde teenager. 'The gods must of taken him from wherever he came from and tossed him here… But I'll ask him more on this later since I don't want to believe things on that just yet.'

Eventually the two soon came across a room that Naruto distinctly realized was some sort of blacksmith's shop. Oberyn gazed at the boy and saw a look of recognition in his gaze, making him realize that Naruto has knowledge in what this was. "You seem quite interested in this place now, aren't you Naruto?"

"Pretty much." Was the Uzumaki's reply as he walked over to the smith station. "When I was younger, I had a certain amount of stipend to spend on each month by the old man since I lived on my own as an orphan. But I wanted more to purchase certain things, so I went out to find a job. And I soon came across a weapons shop an eventual friend of mine worked at because of her family."

Naruto soon picked up the hammer before inspecting it, seeing it was still in great condition after all these years. It's length made it appropriate for a two-handed smithing tool -or weapon in a fight- with the hammerhead having odd runes carved into its sides. He gave it a little swing and realized the cloth wrap around the pole needed replacing.

Putting down the hammer, Naruto continued his tale. "I don't exactly remember how I got the position, but I started to learn so much from them as I helped make the various weapons and tools by becoming quite the experienced apprentice alongside my friend, Tenten."

Oberyn formed a soft smirk. "I'd imagine and I'd like to see you back that claim… So do you have a smithing set inside one of those scrolls of yours?"

"No I don't, Oby-san. There was no point in carrying a set since I had access to my friend's shop. So all I'd have to do was to pay for the materials and I'd have to make the rest on my own. I somewhat regret that now since I need to fix my Kubikiribōchō on the cracks, though I have no idea how."

This made the prince quite curious and wondered what the boy meant. "Weren't you the one that made that sword?"

"I wish I did, but I got it off of a rogue shinobi from another village a while back. Gave it to me as a last wish persay." The Uzumaki answered as he wandered around the chamber and listed off the tools that he knew and ones he guessed from his time working with different variants back at Konoha.

With the flame's light, Naruto's eyes soon landed upon the nearby workbench and saw something of curious interest. Heading over there, he soon came across several scraps of metal alongside what the blonde guessed to be a blacksmith's journal. He first inspected the handfuls of metal and saw they were made out of several alloys, but with the current light it was hard to tell which ones.

Even the feel was completely _foreign_ to the boy.

"What you got there, Naruto?"

"Varying scraps of alloy metals." The blonde stated as he handed a piece as large as his forearm to the Martell, which earned a confused look from the man. "Alloy metals are different kinds of material mixed together to make stronger and tougher steels. And these scraps seem to be of the same compound, but I have no idea what it is."

While the Viper tried to inspect them, Naruto opened up the smith's journal before gaining a confused look. It was written in that odd language Oberyn said that not even he could recognize. He tried to make heads or tails out of it, but the pictures at least helped for what was implying in terms of forging.

'...Is this what I think it is?' Oberyn thought as he gazed more at the pattern. He's seen it before when he studied at the Citadel years ago. The intricate pattern made the Dornish prince gain a sense of wariness. Needing confirmation, he looked over to Naruto and called out to him. "Naruto."

Not looking up from the book, the shinobi answered back. "Yes?"

"When you have a moment, mind having your copies gather all of the scraps of metal in this room? I need to be sure on what I'm thinking right now is real or not."

Looking up with an additional confused look -with some of it coming from the journal- Naruto soon gave the older man a nod. Seeing the man walk out of the chamber to his own thoughts, the genin decided he should start getting everything in the smelting chamber sealed up… Asides from the requested metal alloys of course.

Things were a little quicker than he imagined as he got the equipment sealed away with all of the alloys placed on the workbench in a medium sized pile. And it wasn't just that, but there were a couple of alloy steel bars that were ready to be smithed.

Before heading out with the material in his arms, one of Naruto's clones called out to him. "Hey boss!"

"Yeah?"

"We missed a few." The clone stated as he and a second one came up to him and placed the items onto the pile before dispelling.

The original then let out a sigh. "Couldn't have helped me out on this… Jerks."

Back in the main chamber of the shrine, the Dornish prince was quickly pacing back and forth.

"What is taking Naruto so long?" He muttered under his breath.

What felt like hours were only handfuls of minutes ever since Oberyn left the smelting chamber. His mind was working overtime on his personal little discovery, but he wanted to be sure he was right and not jump the wagon on this. Oberyn kept pacing through the space as he waited for Naruto to finally arrive.

And before he knew it, a familiar voice called out. "Sorry I'm late, Oby-san." The prince whirled around towards the blonde, who had quite the pile in his arms while awkwardly caring smithing bars in his hands. "Didn't know how much equipment that chamber had, along with the alloys scattered about."

"No, it's quite alright."

Going by the nearby steps, Naruto carefully dumped the alloyed metals before putting the later found items to the side. At first glance, Oberyn was a little surprised in seeing the amount found in terms of scraps. By his estimates, there's potential for some reforging in making several short swords and daggers. Hard to tell at this point since he's not knowledgeable in smithing. Not to mention the 'alloy' steel bars could make a decent amount of standard-long swords.

Putting that thought aside, Oberyn looked over Naruto and asked him to unseal the suit of armor and halberd acquired earlier.

Not knowing what the Martell was intending, the Uzumaki compiled and unsealed the desired items. Picking up one of the metal scraps, Oberyn placed it side by side with the halberd and then with one of the armor pieces for closer inspections. The prince soon swallowed a lump of air before having to sit down with slightly widened eyes on his face.

"Oh dear gods… I can't believe it."

"Believe what?"

"I never thought I'd see so much Valyrian steel together in all my life, all at once." Answered the prince as he eyed the legendary steel scraps, bars, halberd and armor set. That was before he saw the items placed to the side, possibly what Naruto found by accident while 'cleaning up' the chamber.

One was a black handled knife in its sheath, which had small chains wrapped around it, as a ruby was imbedded in the pommel. The other appeared to be an odd looking crown with how detailed it appeared to be, including the diamond embedded in the very center of it. Given the unique feature of the nose ridge made the prince think instead of it resting on top of one's head it would be slipped around one's face to be an upper face mask. And the last item that was shown were a pair of small glossy orbs. They weren't exactly made out of metal, but of something else. Nothing much was noteworthy out of them, except for a small smooth dent on each of them with small lines stretching out from them to somewhat make them look like eyes.

"Valyrian steel?" Naruto questioned.

"...It's a very rare metal that originated here in Old Valyria. Sought after by many with how high of quality they are." Oberyn started out as he picked up some of the scrap metals. "They never rust, they never break-OW!... And they never dull." The Martell shortly listed as he sucked on his freshly pricked finger. "They're considered priceless or several mines worth of gold if one would want to purchase one from someone else. Though the last time that happened was hundreds of years ago by the Lannisters in getting one of their own."

"Well I said earlier that it's not just any metal, it's an alloy. The odd coloration and markings show that a different material was added in." Stated the shinobi before looking closer at it again in better light. "But now that I can see this better, I'm guessing that several metals were added instead of just one."

"True and that at least makes little sense now that I think about it." The prince said, remembering that the Valyrians of old were said to be quite ahead of everyone's time in practically everything. So they might have known more in terms of smithing.

"So is there a way to reforge all of this to whatever we want, Oby-san?"

"...If you want to reforge the metal, you'd need to find an expert in working with Valyrian steel Naruto." The older man then let out a frustrated sigh. "Unfortunately there's only a handful of blacksmiths in the world that can only reforge the steel, not make it. And they don't come cheap if you want to learn from them or purchase their services."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… Why you ask?"

Opening up the recently found smithing journal, Naruto came to a certain page and presented it to the prince. Looking closer, the Dornish man saw diagrams in what he assumed was the 'alloys' creation process and some pages later showed what he heard about in terms of reforging.

With widened eyes, Oberyn realized what this journal contained...

"Ways in creating and reforging Valyrian steel." The prince muttered in awe. "Of course… Those scraps in that smithing chamber were leftover pieces of making Valyrian weapons. And the bars being ready for a quicker process."

"Don't forget jewelry; hence the odd crown over there." Oberyn nodded on that little bit of information before the blonde spoke up. "Though there is one piece in here that I somewhat don't understand all that well, asides from the writing." Naruto pointed to the page earlier as it showed a small diagram of some unknown material added into the metal to create the legendary steel. "It appears to be some sort of glass-like core, given the worn out sketch here, but other than that I have no clue what it is exactly."

Humming in thought, Oberyn got up from his seat and paced around a little to collect his thoughts. After several moments, he spoke to his young companion. "We should find someone that could translate that journal. Probably a Valyrian steel reforger to be exact to help out on this… But for now we should head on out. We've rested long enough and as much as I'd like to stick around more, I'd like to leave this place and find a way back to my ship."

Nodding at this, Naruto quickly sealed everything away into his scrolls after taking out the remaining kunai and shuriken to make room for the scraps and extra items. He didn't want to waste anymore time as it is with him having a ticket off of this haunted island.

Going up the stairs, the two made their way out of the shrine… only to find the entrance closed off(?).

"What the hell?" Asked the Uzumaki as he looked for a handle to pull onto, yet there wasn't any. Forming up a Rasengan, he quickly rammed it into the door… only for it to not gain a single scratch after it bounced off its surface. "What the hell is up with this door?!"

"I don't know Naruto, but I'm not liking the feeling of this." The prince muttered as he too didn't like what he just saw. In the fight earlier with that Valyrian monster, that one blue attack really did a lot in causing damage. But if the door wouldn't open and is that reinforced, then something must be wrong here.

"Then we should find another exit if possible…. Wait… If this door is closed, where's the natural light coming from?"

It was a good question for the pair. When they got back to the main shrine chamber, the light seemed to stay the same. There were no candles lit, given they all melted out years ago. So where was the light coming from?

Going up in the higher levels of the shrine -higher than the stone thrones- they saw what they were looking for: an exit. Or to be more precise a metal gate. There was enough empty space to bring in the light to the main shrine chamber, but not enough to light up the entire structure.

"It's locked and I didn't see any keys while exploring."

"Nah… We don't need a key." Pulling out a pair of kunai, he leveled himself to the lock in question. "Just need to break it." Coating the ninja weapons with chakra, Naruto jabbed the two blades into the lock and with enough force and turning, the lock broke.

Pushing the gate opened, Oberyn thought of slight amazement on the moment. "Huh… Handy."

"If this was a public place I'd be using my lock picking skills. But since we're not-"

"Yes, I get your point Naruto. Let's get moving." After stepping out of the gateway, the two adjusted their eyes a little to see that the two ended up in a forest. Though something was off about this as they distinctly remembered that there was no forest nearby the shrine when they first entered it. "This is not right."

"I know… You said that this place is cursed right? Well if it wasn't for that monster we fought earlier, I would've called bullshit." The shinobi stated in a worried tone. "Now I think this place just wants to screw with us."

"I agree. So let's try to find the shoreline and then walk around it to find my ship."

With Oberyn's shield and spear out with Naruto's kunai, the two ventured into the forest. Unlike before entering the shrine, with neither of them coming across any obstacles, the pair soon came across handfuls of stone men. They hissed once gazing at the two humans and rushed them with weapons on hand.

The prince bashed his shield against one of them before smacking the man to the side to eventually pierce it's chest. With Naruto, he rolled out of the way before slashing at the man a few times before leaping in the air and imbedded his weapon into his head. Pulling the weapon out, Naruto soon tossed it into a stone man's face, having it lodge into it's skull. Oberyn dashed forward as he discarded his shield and used his pole's length to skewer a stone man some feet away. Coming in close, he jumped onto him, pulled the weapon out and tossed it at the last of the group.

"What happened to these people?" Asked the shinobi as he started to pilfer the corpses for anything of value. This time he got a jagged short sword, a basic shield and a spear for Oberyn, and some ammo for the crossbow he acquired earlier. 'I should probably do something with that. Don't want to keep reloading it after each shot.'

"Grayscale happened." Answered the prince. "Dreaded and sometimes fatal disease if not taken care of quickly. If not treated at some point, people would just drop off the infected to ruined areas of Essos… Hell sometimes here, of all places, where they're said to end up going mad and bloodthirsty."

"Is there a way to take care of it?"

"Cutting off the infected skin or limb is all that I know of, boy." Was the answer. "Though word from the wise, don't let them make skin contact or else you'll get it. Wouldn't want a boy -such as yourself- to die or get infected too soon. I'm already starting to like you slightly."

"Slightly?"

"We only met each other in like an hour or so ago. It'll take more than that -along with some more fighting together- for me to start enjoying your company."

"...Okay." Naruto sounded unsurely, given Oberyn's answer.

The two progressed through the forest as they kept encountering several foes every so often. Some were standard stone men and some odd surprises of seeing more mutated looking foes with their fungal looking appearances. They were quite unsettling with the clicking sounds they were giving off. Not wanting to deal with them, Naruto used a shuriken with an exploding tag attached before tossing it once the group came together. The 'clickers' exploded in a blast of gore before things settled for the pair to continue onwards.

...*clang*... *clang*... *clang*... *clang*

"Hey, you hear that?" The Uzumaki asked as his ears seemed to pick up on something.

"Hear what?"

"Just... Listen."

It took the prince a bit to properly focus before hearing the sounds of metal beating against metal. "I hear it too. It's faint, but I can hear it."

"Where'd you think it's coming from?"

Turning around every other direction, their senses seemed to land towards a building some distance away. Their curiosity got the better of them as they made their way towards it as the structures details seemed more focused. With the cathedral like keep showing signs of great wear and tear over the years, but still stood with it's viney walls and trees seemingly growing out of said walls. Rising up the stony steps they heard the sounds getting louder and louder by each passing moment.

...*Clang*... *Clang*... *Clang*... *Clang*

"Whoever's fighting in there needs help!"

"And do you think the person inside is friendly or another foe for us to take?"

"Then we've got to take our chances Oby-san." Was Naruto's reply as he brought his Kubikiribōchō back out from his sealing scroll before putting it on his back for a moment. Pumping chakra into his arms to push the doors open with Oberyn letting out a frustrated sigh before helping the teenager out.

As the entrance gave way, the two entered and with the candles lighting up the room as they saw a gruesome sight before them. A legions worth of bodies lied throughout the large, spacious room with several stacked on top of each other varying piles. On the stony floor, water and blood was spread out to show bad things were on top of the smell.

The pair ignored all of that as their focus soon landed on the individuals fighting against each other.

 ***CLANG*... *SLASH* *CLANG*... *CLANG*... *SLASH* *SLASH* *SLASH*... *CLANG* *SLASH***

They appeared to be wearing the same set of clothing and armor like everyone of the dead men. The legionnaires carried greatswords in their right hands while having jagged daggers in their left, appearing to be the only arsenal they have. Wearing a black-dyed leather vest as it was over chainmail. The same kind of leather was tied around the arms, with only the left was fitted with a gauntlet. The iron kneecaps had slight decorations, depicting a lion's head from what Naruto and Oberyn could barely make out as it seemed to be of same design on the armored shoulder pieces. To finish off their appearances, they wore red ragged cloaks with oddly pointed steel helms that seemed unnatural; as parts of them seemed to be falling off and seemed to originate from something else.

 ***CLANG*... *SLASH* *CLANG*...** _ **"GAH!"**_ One legionnaire gasped out as his 'comrades' sword plunged through his gut.

" _ **The sword… is mine!"**_ The remaining man growled out as he pulled the greatsword out, letting the body fall onto the floor. The man breathed in deeply before his red eyes caught sight of the new arrivals. Narrowing his gaze with a fearsome growl, he turned towards them and pointed his bloody great sword towards them. _**"You shall not take… what is rightfully mine!"**_

 _ **-Insert Dark Souls 3 Abyss Watchers Remix- All For One-**_

The main legionnaire ran towards the two at a quickened pace, causing Naruto to quickly ready his Kubikiribōchō and Oberyn to get his shield and spear out. As the legionnaire got in close, he leaped into the air which caused the prince to roll out of the way before their opponent slammed his sword against Naruto's. The impact was strong as parts of the Kubikiribōchō started to further crack with the blonde struggled to hold the man back.

Not wanting Naruto to get harmed, the Red Viper thrusted his spear into his opponent's side, causing blood to spill out before the man swung around to slash his sword at the spear. The prince held up his shield as he dealt with more attacks on his person. Naruto came up from behind and started to slash at the legionnaire several times, causing him to groan out in pain as blood started to seep out of him.

With their opponent distracted, Oberyn rolled in close to bash the man's side with his shield. Grabbing the end of his spear, he swung his weapon around in a whirlwind like motion to get quick slashes against the man. Things seemed to be working on the assault by the traveling pair as Naruto fought against the man, sword to sword to distract him well enough for Oberyn to strike him from behind.

"Damnit! This guy sure packs a strong swing." Grunted the Uzumaki as he blocked several attacks. More and more cracks started to appear, showing that his sword might be done for quite soon.

"Be glad that there's only one of him." The Red Viper grunted out since the opponent was taking quite the beating. He kept thrusting and spinning his spear around but wondered how this man was still standing with the many lethal, life-ending attacks he laid upon him.

" _ **Neither of you shall have it!"**_

"Have what exactly?! *Grunt* If you tell us *Grunt* then we'd just stay away from it *Grunt* and let you have it for all we care!" Yelled the shinobi as one more swing caused the Kubikiribōchō to finally break, sending Naruto flying back and half of the sword to fall onto the bloody ground. "Dammit."

Seeing Naruto undefended, Oberyn tried to rush towards the boy to defend him slightly, but the legionnaire blocked his path. The Viper bashed his shield against him, but it seemed to parry against the jagged dagger. It pushed the shield out of the way, causing Oberyn to stumble before he was assaulted by several sword strikes.

"GAH!" Yelled out the Dornish man as he was sent flying towards a pile of dead corpses.

"Don't worry! I'm coming!" Naruto cried out as he tried to get back up. When he did, he saw a sight that would probably haunt his dreams for a while. As one of the legionnaire corpses rose from the bloody stone floor nearby, it looked at the blonde before making its way towards him. "Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

Naruto rolled back as the second legionnaire performed a dash slashing attack in the attempts to skewer him. With the attack failed, the second opponent swung his greatsword around in the attempts of lopping the blond's head right off of his shoulders. The shinobi was forced to use the broken blade as shield to keep the bloody blade off of him. The assault was brutal, making Naruto wince out in pain several times. He wanted to summon clones or use his Rasengan, but the legionnaire he's currently fighting against was being a bit too fast and strong for Naruto to quickly do such things.

Back with Oberyn, he wasn't doing much better as he kept dodging the first legionnaire's attacks. They were quite dangerous and he wasn't fully equipped to deal with this sort of thing since leather armor can only do so much. He was feeling quite exhausted from this whole ordeal. Even looking towards the side, the prince saw that Naruto was seemingly dealing with his own legionnaire at this time.

Oberyn could only hope they'll be able to have help in any way shape or form.

Unbeknownst to either of the living humans, a corpse rose from the ground with a groan as it eyed the two legionaries fighting against the new arrivals. Underneath his deformed helm, green eyes shown with fury as apart of his soul seemed to return, all because of seeing the blonde teenager.

' _ **He looks… so much… like him.'**_ The third legionnaire thought as more of his being seemed to return. Using his sword as a crutch, he hoisted himself up and staggered in making his way towards the blonde. _**'I must… protect him.'**_

Naruto was struggling on his feet by this point as he tried to get the Kyuubi to fork over some of it's chakra to him. But the fox wouldn't respond back at all, leaving Naruto on his own in this matter. All that he could feel at this point was his body burning from pushing himself further and further, just like the previous times when he tried to use the beast's power.

'Are my chakra coils expanding right now? Is that the reason why I'm feeling this burn right inside of me? And why hasn't the fox given me any chakra?! If I die, he dies! So why isn't he helping?!' Were the teenager's thoughts as he ran by the nearby wall and leapt off of it to smack the second legionnaires head to the side. 'I just need some space and I could maybe Rasengan his ass to next week. Then I can help out Oby-san.'

He was so distracted with his thoughts that he didn't see the third legionnaire running towards him. When he did, Naruto freaked out and thought he was going to get killed in such a way. Yet -much to his surprise- the third legionnaire pushed him away as said legionnaire blocked the incoming sword swing with his own weapon.

When gazing upon the third _opponent's_ great sword, it was greatly different from the other two he saw. It was indeed a greatsword in terms of length, but the design was completely different. The other legionnaires' great swords had a black handle, pommel and guard with some black covering over the bloody blade; but the one wielded by the one that saved Naruto was in stark contrast. It seemed to have a leathery brown handle with a golden guard and it's lion's head pommel was of matching material and color.

Shoving the second opponent away, the third turned back and seemingly gave the teenager a warm gaze before going back to attack the second. Naruto -on his part- saw this and was confused on what just happened. Getting back up, he tried looking for his remaining half of the Kubikiribōchō when he saw something quite interesting: it was repairing itself.

'H-How… How is that possible?' He thought in bewilderment, looking a little bit further to see the other part of the sword seemingly being pulled back by blood connecting the two. On the main half, some of the metal was already growing until it attached with the broken half. Once together, the cracks started to fill with the fallen blood bandaging and binding the sword whole.

Not wanting to question this right now, Naruto grabbed his newly repaired carving-knife sword and dashed towards Oberyn. The prince was about to be stabbed when Naruto leaped at the first opponent, slashed and delivered a powered kick at his side, sending him flying to the far wall.

Checking on the Martell, he saw the man really drained from the beating he had to deal with. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out some blood and rations pills, taking one of each for himself before handing the rest to Oberyn. "Here, eat these."

"...What are they?"

"They'll help gain back your strength." Oberyn merely gave Naruto a cautious, questioning look. "Just trust me on this, please."

Hesitantly taking them from the blonde's palm, he popped the pills into his mouth and crunched on them. They tasted really odd -even for him with what he had in his mouth over the years- as he tasted blood and some substance rushing down his throat. As Naruto helped him get back onto his feet, Oberyn slowly felt really invigorated. Something that surprised him greatly and never experienced before.

"What the hell?" He muttered in shock as he tightened his hand. "How did this-"

"You can thank my ration and blood pills on that Oby-san. Helps a little on wounds and revitalizes your stamina."

"...Why didn't you give them to me before?!" The prince spoke out, seemingly ignoring the fight going on in the background as the third legionnaire was now fighting against the first after killing off the second.

"I only had a limited supply, for starters." Stated the shinobi before he turned around to see the current fight going on. "Come on, we need to finish that first guy off."

"And what of the second?"

"...Actually that's the third." Answered the Uzumaki. "And for some reason… he saved me."

Ignoring Oberyn's questioning look, Naruto dashed at the pair of legionnaires with a Rasengan charged up in the palm of his free hand. Slamming it down on the first opponent, said man yelled out in pain as he was flung to the nearby wall and was embedded into it. Grunting and roaring with rage, the first opponent pulled himself out and hotly glared at the boy and the third _opponent._

" _ **Take your filthy hands off of my sword!"**_

" _ **It's no longer yours, dear ancestor. It belongs to me, to my brother and to his children."**_ The third legionnaire stated in a slightly even tone as he readied his stance at his 'ancestor'. _**"You were foolish in taking Brightroar all those years ago and all I wanted to do was bringing it back home!"**_

'Did that legionnaire say Brightroar? As in the Lannister ancestral Valyrian sword Brightroar?' Thought out the prince as he stood beside Naruto. With of a shake of his head, he tried to focus. 'Questions can be answered later. For now, we need to defeat this man.'

Without warning, the 'ancestral Lannister' ran forward with a roar as he came in with a sweeping thrust. Rage clouded his vision, trying to take back what's his to begin with. With each sweep of his blade, rock and dirt was flung into the air as he tried to cut up the group of three. Naruto blocked each of the strikes, but was being pushed back in the attacks while Oberyn and the allied legionary laid on the assault.

Before long, the ancient Lannister collapsed onto the ground, trying to get back up to continue his pursuit of defeating them. But it wasn't enough as he went back down with a low *thud*, leaving the group of three to rest a for the moment. Oberyn was going to start asking the 'descended Lannister' when said man started to groan out in pain before yelling out an agonizing wail. The decedent collapsed, clutching his sides as blood and what appeared to be embers were being lifted off of his body and slowly flew into the air.

The two companions gained a sense of wariness as they saw all of the corpses in the room slowly turn into blood and ash before the material went towards the 'ancestral Lannister'. What was even more surprising was when all of the other copies of the same greatsword and dagger burned into glowing embers as they followed the ash/blood cloud trail. Reaching the downed enemy; the blood, ash and embers were forming around him as the material of all of the legionaries and weapons revitalized and strengthened him.

Slowly getting back up, the ancestral Lannister slammed his sword into the ground, causing it to spark to life. Flames started dancing around the blade, along with the crude looking dagger, as it seemed to match the glowing red eyes emanating from the man's gaze. Following this, the man's clothing started to singe with edges glowing like embers in the flames.

As he watched this, Oberyn got real nervous seeing this occur. 'Dear gods… this reminds me of the tales I've heard that took place at the Siege of the Pyke. Is this what those soldiers back then saw when seeing Thoros' flaming sword?'

" _ **I am taking back what is mine! For I am Tommen II, King of the Rock!"**_ The now identified Tommen II bellowed out as he went into a fierce fighting stance. _**"And I shall take back Brightroar from your unworthy hands!"**_

And like in his House's motto, Naruto and Oberyn heard the ancient king roar before he lunging towards them with a fiery trial. Reacting quickly, Naruto summoned a dozen shadow clones to help out in this fight. One of them was quickly killed off by the crude dagger before a couple were sliced in half by the fire coated sword.

Rolling out of the way, Oberyn recovered quickly and grabbed one of his spears before throwing it at Tommen II. The weapon landed it's mark as it buried deep into the possessed man's leg, making him bellow out in pain before cutting the spear from behind. Swiftly turning his gaze, Tommen's eyes looked at the Martell and leaped into the air to strike the man down.

Oberyn wasn't going to react quick enough to move out of the way, so he held up his shield in response. Inspecting a heavy blow, all he heard was a resounding *CLANG* before looking at his young companion. And with a angry look on his face, Naruto yelled at the ancestral Lannister as both swords were struggling against each other. "Not on my watch asshole!"

With a mighty heave -due to Naruto pumping his limbs with chakra- the blonde shoved Tommen II away and delivered several slashes onto the cursed man. Getting out of his stiffened position, Oberyn grabbed his other lance and followed his companion's actions by thrusting and swiping at their opponent. They soon jumped out of the way as Tommen swung his fire sword around in a small fire-like tornado in hopes of hitting either of the companions.

The remainder of Naruto's clones threw out their kunais with attached exploding tags as this delivered a good amount of damage onto Tommen. Bellowing out in rage, he dug his sword into the ground and swiped upwards to send out a fiery trail that destroyed a few clones in the process. What was left of the clones leaped at the ancient Lannister king with either kunai or Rasengans on hand, but neither of them landed their marks as they were soon killed off and went up into smoke.

Both traveling companions dashed around Tommen before Oberyn slid on the ground with Naruto in the air before both of them struck the fire-sword wielder. The two had to soon move out of the way as the ancient Lannister went into a blind fury, wildly swinging all over the place at this point. Neither companions wanted to get close, but it was the only way to finish things off and exit the building alive.

'Kyuubi… Please… At least help me on this like you did when I fought Sasuke-teme.' Naruto thought as he and the Dornish prince were running all over the room to hopefully find an opening to strike. 'After this, you can go back to sleep for all I care for a while.'

The Uzumaki then heard a frustrated groan from within his mind. **"Fine."** Said the Kyuubi **"Just don't disturb my slumber and get killed. Then I'll call things good."**

Naruto soon felt his reserves flood with some of the Kyuubi's chakra. Oberyn didn't notice the small changes, due to the fight taking place. If he did, the prince would've seen Naruto's eyes become red as blood with his whisker birthmarks being more pronounced.

'Alright! Time to end this!' And with him invigorated, Naruto ran up the wall before pumping a lot of chakra into his legs. Leaping off of the structure's wall, leaving a massive dent in the process, Naruto went in close with his giant carving knife coated in the fox's chakra.

Coming in close from both sides, Oberyn thrusted his spear into Tommen's chest as it pierced his heart while Naruto distracted the ancient Lannister from the other side. And for good measure, Naruto swung his mighty Kiri sword at the fallen king's head and freed it from it's decrepit body. Landing in a recovery roll, Naruto looked back to see the body slowly falling down onto the dry ground before it's body went up in flames and turned to ash.

This left the two companions in a slightly panting mess as they tried to catch their breaths and calm down their hearts. With the adrenaline pumping through their veins, it'll take several minutes for that to happen. But this was worth it as they had quite the fight on their hands and both survived the encounter.

"Gods above… I need a good fucking." Panted out the Dornish prince, causing his young companion to look at him with a strange, shocked look. "After that, I really want to get back to my ship... and fuck my beloved Ellaria long and hard. *Panting* Nothing is better... than having a good fuck after a great fight like that." Looking at the young blonde, Oberyn gave Naruto a cheeky smile. "Maybe I should get you a girl to have some fun with."

"...WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Naruto bellowed out, resulting in him having an oddly comedic appearance on his face. With the literal white eyes as he pointed at the prince in an accusing manner. "THERE'S NO WAY I'M GETTING ROPED INTO DOING THAT, YOU PERVERT!"

This caused the Dornish man to burst out laughing as he never got this kind of reaction before. It was practically priceless as he heard the blonde teenager rant out in a comedic fashion. Though this stopped as both companions heard a series of coughs on the far side of the room, making them look in that general direction to see the descended Lannister was barely alive.

Rushing towards his side, Naruto turned the man over before his distorted helm came off to reveal his long grey hair and weak green eyes. Pulling down the cloth from his face, Naruto saw the man's long beard to help show that he hasn't been able to clean up his appearance in Kami knows how many years. Asides from that, the Lannister had a very withered appearance as he spoke to the blonde shinobi.

"Is… Is it over?"

"Yeah, old man. That guy's dead now." Was the Uzumaki's response, getting a small smile from the old Lannister.

"That's good." Wheezed out the weakly, sane legionnaire. "That's very good."

Off to the side, the Martell looked upon the scene of seeing Naruto trying to take care of the obviously dying man on the ground. Whatever curse he was under, it was finally broken. But not without consequence given his withered look shown on his face.

"Please child… Hand me my family sword… Hand me Brightroar." Complying with his wishes, Naruto jogged over to where the Lannister Valyrian blade was at and brought it over. Carefully putting the greatsword onto the man's chest, the Lannister weakly grasped it as he felt a bit more at piece. "What is your name, child?"

"It's Naruto Uzumaki."

Nodding at this, the old Lannister realized the boy wasn't his nephew Jamie. They looked so much alike around the current boy's age, asides from the whisker marks and blue eyes.

Turning his head over slightly to the teenager's older companion, he spoke out. "And yours?"

"...It's Oberyn Martell."

"Oberyn… Gods, you've grown so much. It feels like ages."

"...And you're Gerion Lannister? The youngest brother of Tywin Lannister, aren't you?" Oberyn asked, getting the now identified Gerion to weakly nod. They've only met a few times when the Martell was younger and remembered hearing about the man leaving for Valyria in search for Brightroar shortly after the Greyjoy Rebellion ended.

To think that he'd end up seeing the man after so many years in his current state is rather shocking with how Gerion became so drastically old.

"Yes… And please… Fulfill me one last request. Please… take me and Brightroar back home. That's all I ask." Pleaded the weak Lannister, getting Naruto to nod with a delayed one from the Martell. "Thank.. You." Shutting his eyes one last time, Gerion Lannister of House Lannister finally passed on.

Without saying a word, Naruto pulled out a storage scroll and made quick work into creating a seal. This was the only way to safely transport the deceased body easier since a stretcher would take too long and he doesn't know how long it'll take to bring his body back to his family. Summoning a few clones, they helped move the body onto the dried up seal and with a *poof*, both body and sword were now inside of the scroll.

"So what now, Oby-san?"

"Now we leave." The Martell simply said as he made his way towards the exit on the other side of the building. "I've had enough of this place and I just want to get back to my beloved Ellaria."

Nodding in response, Naruto soon followed after his older companion. Though he did stop as he saw the great sword and dagger Tommen II used in the fight. He didn't notice this before, but whatever happened after the ancient Lannister's death caused the fire to clean up both of the bladed weapons. No more blood stained the blades, causing them to have a bit of a shinier appearance. The dagger still looked crude, but it seemed to be its initial design with the curved piece of metal on the wooden handle to compliment the claw looking blade.

With the greatsword blade, it had a gradient coloring of black at the very tip before transitioning to a standard steel grey in the middle before light grey towards the handle. The darkened horned guard compliments the spiked pommel and the leather handle as it connected with the blade's guard, stretched out towards a quarter down the blade as it connected to the fuller. An interesting design on the blade's guard was the bloomed flower with vines wrapped around it to finish things off.

The shinobi hesitantly picked them up and expected something foul to happen, only for nothing to occur at all. They felt right in his hands -for some reason- as a warm feeling came into his palms. Deciding to take the weapons with him, he quickly sealed those up in an empty spot in his sealing scroll before picking back up his Kubikiribōchō.

As the two got to the keep's exit, they pushed the door open that was surprisingly easy this time around. Once opened, the pair were greeted with semi-bright light from both the nearby volcanoes and the full moon up above as they viewed the ocean with them stepping onto the cliffside. Neither wanted to know how or why they ended up here, but it didn't matter as Oberyn let out a pleasant sigh of relief.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." The Martell spoke as he gazed at his ship near the coast. "Now we just need to get the hell off of this island and we're home free."

"Are you sure about that, Oby-san?"

"...Why you ask, Naruto?"

"Because there's a ship coming closer to yours and something tells me it's not good."

Looking back at his ship, the Red Viper looked a bit further off the coast and saw another ship was coming in. A sinking feeling came around and feared on what was going to happen. In response, he started to run away from his position to try and find a coastline.

Seeing this, the shinobi ran with him and asked the older man. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I need to get back quickly! Pirates are about to hit our only transport and my beloved is there!"

"Then what are we waiting for!" Naruto summoned a horde of clones as some of them grabbed the Dornish prince. He was about to yell out at them to let go before he felt a sense of weightless as the whole group seemed to jump off of the cliffside and towards the water below. Oberyn felt his heart trying to break out of his chest at this point, causing him to yell out at this point.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!"

 _ **-Onboard the Martell Ship-**_

Inside of the shared cabin of her beloved, Ellaria was sitting on the bed as she was writing up a letter to not just her daughters, but to the rest of Oberyn's family.

Whenever the couple travel outside of Dorne, they always promised to write to keep them updated on their whereabouts and activities. The pair do it weekly as the fastest raven they carry on either their caravan or ship always make it back home by weeks end and vice versa when traveling _extremely_ vast distances.

Now the pair would normally do this in the daylight hours when traveling, but Ellaria needed to distract herself at the current time. Reason being her worrying herself over Oberyn being on that godforsaken territory.

The Dornish bastard tried reading one of the several books she brought with her, but she kept thinking of her lover. She decided to doodle for a little, but kept drawing depictions of him. She tried taking a nap again, but she kept tossing and turning. Of course she had to stay away from pleasuring herself or else his handsome features would invade her mind.

So writing was the only option for her at this point after Oberyn left the ship a few hours prior. For what should've been a simple pick up on the heavenly rock took much longer than she would've liked.

Placing the piece of paper of her recent report to Prince Doran -Head of House Nymeros Martell and leader of the Dornish people- amongst the other written letters, Ellaria flexed her writing hand and dipped her quill into the ink pot before writing the last letter for the evening. She usually saves this particular one for last amongst all of Oberyn's family.

Even though she bore her prince four daughters out of his seven, the eldest of said lot that came from her womb was her absolute favorite.

 _To my dearest Tyene,_

 _Your father and I are doing well since I last wrote. Not much could be said on how our travel has been since things have seemed rather… boring, suffice to say. After all, not much could be done upon the open seas._

 _One could try to fish along the ship's deck, but depending on the ocean's waves would make it rather difficult to catch food… without the proper equipment. There could be some party we could do on the ship, but we don't want to waste the supplies; even if we were to so happen to be ambushed by pirates and raiders. All that we can do is tredge forward and focus in our work to get to our destinations as soon as possible._

 _So sad to say, it's not great to be on a ship if there's not much form of entertainment. And doing such activities that one could think of can become boring, much like what your father considers boring with certain poisons._

 _I just hope by the time we reach Meereen - or even just there- something exciting will happen elevate this… stale feeling. Something I could enjoy regaling to you about once I return home._

 _I love you with all my heart and wish you the best joy possible._

 _Oh and PS: don't forget to tell Dorea, Obella and Loreza -your full sisters- that I love and miss them as well._

Putting down the quill, Ellaria leaned back against the chair and rubbed her eyes. 'Should I or should I not have put down on what Oberyn is doing on the Valyrian island?'

The Dornish bastard could use the other side of the raven-sized message scrolls to write a quick message on what Oberyn's intension is with Old Valyria. Procuring a heavenly rock and making a sword out of it to be similar to House Dayne's ancestral sword, Dawn, could increase House Martell's standing in Westeros. Never in said house's history -or even in Dorne in general- have they ever had a Valyrian steel sword. The only thing remotely close is the sword from House Dayne.

Dawn had been tested before to see if it was indeed on the same ground as Valyrian steel. Dead animals to even armored training dummies and standard swords were cleaved right through with single swings. Not just that, but it's been reported that Dawn even clashed against some Valyrian sword in a war in the distant past and both blades were at a standstill with neither breaking.

With this knowledge on hand, was it even worth Oberyn's safety to retrieve the heavenly rock in the godforsaken land?

A small amount of exhaustion came over Ellaria, making her want to head out of the cabin in order to get some fresh air to clear her head.

 _ **-Insert Assassin's Creed 4 OST: Ship Boarding Theme-**_

*BANG* *CRASH*

"What the hell?" Rushing out of the cabin now, the Sand Snake looked outside to see what happened as the ship harshly rocked. Turning towards the source, she realized what happened. "Pirates."

By this point, the Martell crew was on high alert as they quickly armed themselves with their bladed weapons. The boarding party soon followed as several pirates swung in from their ropes, letting go and falling down while stabbing several crew members in the process. The fighting soon commenced as people left and right started to fight for their lives.

Ellaria wasn't defenseless however as she pulled out a knife on her person and stabbed an incoming pirate before relieving him of his sword. Quickly parrying an incoming swing, the Sand Snake used her knife to slice the man's throat before kicking his dying body away.

Rushing into the small battle, she helped some of the crew members fend off some of the attackers. But they appeared to just keep coming to no end. Be as it may, she'll do what it takes to help save this ship by the time her beloved returns.

"By the Seven, we need a lot of help right about now." She muttered before being kicked from behind and falling onto the deck. Turning around, Ellaria saw one of the pirates about to stab her into the chest…

*SHIRK*

"Hey. Are you alright, ma'am?"

...Until a blonde teenager in a strange blue/orange outfit stabbed the man's back once landing on top of him.

Dumbfounded by this odd arrival, Oberyn's paramour only nodded in response. Seeing this, the whiskered blonde nodded before rushing into battle… with another?… and another?... and several more?

"What the fuck?" The Sand Snake muttered as she eyed to odd spectacle.

"God's damnit, Naruto!" A familiar voice called out, making Ellaria spin around to see her lover finally on deck with a spear and shield on hand. "Warn me next time you do that!"

"Well there was no time, Oby-san." One of the boy's called out as he fought one of the larger pirates. "It was _literally_ the quickest way in getting here!"

"And running on the fucking water was the better solution?! With you and your copies carrying me the entire way!" The Viper questioned as he stabbed a pirate through the gut before bashing another with his shield. "I would've prefered swimming, for fucks sakes!"

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." Another blonde non-caringly said as ran in between the pirates and sliced parts of their legs to make them fall down with varying *thuds*.

The battle continued as the other clones landed on deck and helped relieve the Martell crew of the enemies. Even went so far with the original landing on the pirate's ship and made his way through the most of them. Slicing several at a time with his giant carving knife by either cutting off limbs or cutting their chests up badly.

The shinobi wanted to try and keep casualties down to a minimum on the enemy side so the Martells could do whatever they saw fit on what just occurred. Though it's hard to do so with the pirates' constant attempts to kill him at every turn. So he was forced to keep doing what he was doing, while occasionally throwing shuriken at the enemy crew with some sticking out of their eyes or piercing some vital areas.

Back on the Martell ship, the Sand Snake sliced one of the attackers across the chest before kicking him overboard. The same followed as she swept behind one of the pirates and shoved her sword through the man's back. With the Viper, he threw his spear at one of the attackers with it piercing his neck and going through another opponent's head. Coming in close, Oberyn smacked one of the other attackers off of his boat with his shield. With his adrenaline rush, he twisted around when someone bumped right into him and almost attacked the person, only to see…

"Oberyn!"/"Ellaria!"

Soon after their small surprise, they developed each other into a soul searing kiss as the action around them was soon dying down. The Martell crew cheered for their success, despite the loss of some of their men. But let it be known that the families of those fallen members will be compensated for their troubles.

As their kiss soon ended, Ellaria gave Oberyn a curious look and asked the obvious question. "What took you so long, my love?"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I had some trouble on the island." Looking at Oberyn, she could see why as there were varying rips and tears on his attire with several cuts that'll need stitching soon enough or else they'll get infected. "Though I had some help in that time."

She was quite curious on who he was referring to. That was until her gaze landed upon the several blonde teenagers running around the deck to help some of the crew out. "Him?"

Oberyn chuckled. "Yes him." Seeing her bewildered look, the Dornish prince shook his head as he walked beside her to help follow his young companion's actions. "And it's got quite the story behind on what happened, Ellaria."

"That I'll be sure to hear quite well."

"Of course… Hells, I still need to hear his story on how he got to Old Valyria in the first place."

 _ **-End Chapter-**_

 **Gundyr Armor: Ancient armor set mostly casted in Valyrian steel, modeled after a former king. Gundyr -the Belated Champion- was bested by an unknown warrior. He then became sheath to a coiled sword in the hopes that someday, the true Flame would rise once more.**

 **Gundyr's Halberd: Halberd of Gundyr the Champion, received when he was charged with his eternal duty until his fated death. This old Valyrian steel halberd has the power to break poise.**

 **Blacksmith Hammer: Metal hammer passed down amongst the greatest blacksmiths of Valyria. Serves as a strike weapon, but also excels at reducing poise and breaking the guard of a shield. Of course, a hammer's true potential is realized in the hands of talented blacksmiths.**

 **Valyrian Smithing Journal: Ways in creating freshly made Valyrian steel. Yet, the writing requires proper translation as the language written within its pages is lost to time(?)**

 **Histories of *********: Contains histories and lores from Valyria when it was once alive. Yet it holds other stories to behold.**

 **Eyes of the ***** ******: Representing the eyes of the ***** ****** with the light gone from them just like what it's intended for. They reveal to the sightless things that they should never see.**

 **Brightroar: The ancestral Valyrian sword was purchased by the Lannister Kings of old before the Doom of Valyria. As it was said, they paid their weight in gold, same amount to raise an army, to acquire the famous metal before crafting it to their liking. Years later, Tommen II of House Lannister left with a fleet and the family sword to go to Valyria to plunder its wealth and knowledge for the glory of his home, but they never returned.**

 **Years later, Gerion Lannister -youngest brother of Tywin Lannister- sought out the blade and went with a ship of his own, but no one has ever found or heard from him since… Until recently with Naruto Uzumaki and Oberyn Martell found him in Valyria.**

 **Farron Greatsword/Dagger: Originally owned by the first Valyrian Watcher of the Abyss, legionnaire protectors of the Valyrian Empire. The Watcher modeled his sword with inspiration towards the man he served under as a squire, Artorias Stark, while his dagger resembles a wolf's claw. In the Doom of Valyria, the legionnaires were destroyed and the first sword/dagger of the group was cursed. Infecting those with the abyss itself.**

 **Tommen II came across the Valyrian steel weapon and tried to take it as his own in his pursuit of plundering the ruins of Old Valyria. But this was his downfall as the weapon cursed him and others that followed him to fight each other until gods knows when. When Gerion Lannister arrived to pursuit Brightroar, he ended up cursed as well as he fought his ancestor to acquire the family sword.**

 **It is now cleansed after Tommen's defeat and is currently wielded by Naruto Uzumaki. And like the original owner, the Konoha shinobi will protect those that are precious to him, even protecting the whole realm of Westeros later in his life. It'll be renamed into something else once Naruto thinks of a better name for it. Unique feature on the weapon pair is that when coating enough chakra onto them, they'll light up on fire as what they originally had years ago with magic.**

 **Kubikiribōchō: Translates to Decapitating Carving Knife in common tongue. A weapon belonging to Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure before his death as it was soon acquired by Naruto Uzumaki. Like every sword in the Seven Swordsmen set, the cleaver ultra greatsword has a unique feature about it. Ignoring the two holes in it -to entrap victims in it for whatever purpose- when broken it can be repaired by absorbing the iron in blood to mend itself.**

 **AN:**

 **I know many of you wish I could've continued with my original version but I'm not going to waste those chapters. I'm just going to make them flow better and do necessary adjustments. So what chapters I previously used will still be here but just going to add some other chapters prior to Naruto getting his first mission. It's all in order to do more character developments since things seemed rushed prior to said mission.**

 **A thing to note for a reminder is that most of this story will take place in Dorne before later focusing in Essos. Reason being is that I felt -along with everyone else- the Dorne arc in Season 5 of GoT was not great at all. The stuff shown in a** _ **Feast of Crows**_ **and** _ **Dance with Dragons**_ **pertaining Dorne was rather great as it helped introduce a good number of characters and developed things quite well.**

 **Yet the show runners excluded the slue of them from the Arianne storyline to the Dornish master plan. Made things much more deep with how things were built up in the books but in the show made it quite weak. Like Arianne and the Sand Snakes wanted to make Myrcella rule Westeros over Tommen as it's the best form of revenge for them while trying to make a semi-coup to get Arianne to surp Doran on what was revealed early in her life. Not to mention Doran sending Quentyn to Meereen to shack up with Dany because of the secret marriage pact.**

 **...All that was taken out and what we got in the show was the Sand Snakes just wanting to kill Myrcella before later killing Trystane and Doran with a not great 'buddy cop' thing with Jamie and Bronn.**

 **So I hope to do my part to make things better to the best of my ability when it pertains to Dorne. Thus I want to do good developments with the Martells and other people in what I have in my story notes. And this means I'll blend what I can from both show and book details… with obvious changes.**

 **Now as a reminder for y'all that with SoulsBorne in general, I'll do my best to blend things accordingly. Though I'll need to do reminders on certain details so many of you won't get confused as hell with certain story elements.**

 **For example, when introducing the small detail about Hollows I wasn't using Bleach elements. In Dark Souls, a common enemy type in the series are Hollows as they slowly lose their humanity and look like shriveled up people.**

 **And to keep a little on lore tropes with SoulsBorne and Game of Thrones, I'll do my spin on things with specific weapons and items every so often to make things interesting. It's just to be my way of blending 'From Software' stuff into the world George R.R. Martin created with my own twist of things.**

 **Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!**

 **R &R**


	3. You've gotta hate Meereen

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, SoulsBorne or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

 _Writing/Singing_

 _"Foreign Language/Flashback"_

 _ **-Scene Shift-**_

 **Chapter 3: You've gotta hate Meereen.**

A mixture of singing, yells and work were heard in the open channels of Slaver's Bay in the early morning. The wind and current were quite well as it carried a pair of ships towards their destination. One carried the colors of Dorne, with the ever present sigil of House Martell flapping in the wind. As for the the other, which was much larger, didn't have such colors. Though it's former pirate flag was replaced with one from its smaller neighbor.

 _The Dornishman's wife was as fair as the sun,_

 _and her kisses were warmer than spring._

 _But the Dornishman's blade was made of black steel,_

 _and its kiss was a terrible thing._

 _The Dornishman's wife would sing as she bathed,_

 _in a voice that was sweet as a peach._

 _But the Dornishman's blade had a song of its own,_

 _and a bite sharp and cold as a leech._

 _As he lay on the ground with the darkness around,_

 _and the taste of his blood on his tongue._

 _His brothers knelt by him and prayed him a prayer,_

 _and he smiled and he laughed and he sung:_

 _"Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done,_

 _the Dornishman's taken my life._

 _But what does it matter, for all men must die,_

 _and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!_ "

This was one of many songs Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha heard throughout his boat ride with the Martell crew and it's now two owners: Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand. Even though it took a bit for him to realize the meaning of the song, much to his slight displeasure, it was pretty catchy once getting used to it.

Then again he didn't have much form of entertainment outside of his lessons for the past few days.

"Come on, Naruto, you need to keep up with your feet if you want to 'dance' in the battlefield."

"I know that, Oby-san, but do you two have to keep trying to whip or stab my feet if I'm not doing it right?"

"Well where's the fun if you're not doing it right." Came the cheeky remark from the Sand Snake with her whip on hand. "Though it would be such a shame to see such a hot blooded child like yourself die so early on."

"I swear to Kami, Ella-san, if you cut me and lick my blood then we're gonna have a long chat while I'm kicking your ass!"

"Oh?~ So you've dealt with someone like her before, huh?" Oberyn stated as he spun his lance around with a mild-curiosity. "I've never seen you react that way before with her so far into our lessons."

Letting out mocked gasp, his paramour spoke out as she placed a hand over her heart. "How can you be so rude me, Naruto, after all I've done for you so far?" Nothing but the mad twitching of the blonde's eye caused her to laugh while her lover chuckled in response.

After the pirate attack off the coast of one of the Old Valyrian islands a few days ago, Naruto became quite interesting and relieved the couple's boredom. Sure they would've had sex to relieve themselves and doing so for so long can become quite stale. Either one would've read their books or helped the crew out on the ship duties on this extensive trip, which they've done for the past weeks.

But with Naruto here, the couple found something to preoccupy themselves.

Things started out once things calmed down after the failed raid on their original ship. The pirates were offered two choices by the Martell crew for what they've done in the attack: bend the knee to Oberyn and live or would be left onto the Old Valyrian island and try their luck there. The more stubborn ones chose the later in hopes of riches while the rest stayed and now served the Dornes.

Didn't matter on either choice as all of the pirate's gave the Uzumaki their best stink eyes since he was the wildcard of causing them to be in the situation.

Anyways… After things calmed down and repairs were fully taken care of, Oberyn and Ellaria dragged Naruto into their cabin so information could be explained and shared accordingly. Once the couple thanked the blonde for helping them out on the recent attack, Naruto was given the go ahead in explaining on who and what he was… even as he thought it was odd the two should've known what he was to begin with: a shinobi.

Learning his profession, he can be tasked with varying missions that can include the following: doing manual labour, acting as escorts, gathering secret information, retrieving stolen items, carrying out assassinations, etc. It was quite the surprise for the Dornish couple when learning a child his age has such a profession, but they remembered that certain groups in the world would bring in children into their hold; molding them to become whatever the group wants them to be.

Naruto did explain a bit further that where he came from, being Konohagakure in the Land of Fire. And it was the norm with the shinobi/kunoichi living amongst the civilian population. In fact, it's quite the common practice with all of the shinobi villages in the Elemental Nations with the daimyos, lords, merchants, etc. hiring them to do what needs to be done.

Sensing no lie in this matter, the couple swallowed hard on the information given to them.

Of course this was brought up further when Naruto explained what chakra was, in which Oberyn and Ellaria mistook as magic. Given the fact that Naruto jumped outside, _landed_ on the water and _walked_ alongside the boat made the Sand Snake freak out a little. Even more so when the Uzumaki performed the kawarimi/replacement jutsu with a log (on how that happened you can thank the Log Gods above for the odd miracle) and the henge/transformation jutsu to make him appear like several people that they've never come across to even forming into the Dornish' couple themselves.

The only problem Naruto came across in his little _showcase_ was when he tried to summon the Toads. The couple expected to see a talking toad -which was supposedly odd despite what they previously saw from the blonde- only to see nothing but smoke. The young shinobi was curious on what was going on and swore he'll figure out the problem on a later day.

Going over this handful of information, the couple questioned on how Naruto came onto the Old Valyrian island in the first place. Knowing they weren't bad people and were helping him out in the present time, he told them the retrieval mission of his now deceased rouge teammate. It seemed to be an oddly whimsical, murmur's tale on what he described on the mission.

But with the stuff he performed earlier left the two still feeling iffy on accepting such a tale.

Once that was done, the two eventually revealed they really never heard of the Elemental Nations before as they showed the Uzumaki of their world's map and atlas. Even describing on what caused Oberyn to get onto the island in the first place as they saw him as a fallen star and landing on the Old Valyrian territory earlier that day.

By its end, it was hard for Naruto to swallow as the feeling in his chest -which grew during their explanation- confirmed things: he wasn't in his home existence anymore. The whiskered blonde then requested to be left alone to think and digest things over, which the couple understood and gave the shinobi some privacy.

After an hour of self loathing, denial, and meditation; Naruto came into a form of acceptance of where he currently resides. He tried and tried several times on finding out the truth as he scoured the cabin's library and the crew on any information on his homelands, but none were found. Nothing could've been done as he cried and yelled into a pillow for a while that there was no way he could go back home now.

With a heavy heart, Naruto had to find a new purpose in life with his dreams back home now unreachable as they're non-existent in his current one. He could find something similar, but would only go so far with what limitations there could be here.

As Ellaria checked up on him -with Oberyn outside of the door listening- they learned on what had him so troubled. It was understandable -given the blonde's situation- but they told Naruto that he's young and has a lot to experience to gain throughout his life. He doesn't have to figure out his life's purpose now, it would come to him later as he explores his new horizons.

And with that, Naruto asked the two to teach him everything there is about these new lands he's now living in. It wouldn't be right for him to go out there blind without proper knowledge of things. Like going out into the wilderness and not having the right equipment to complete his missions. It would end up really hard to effectively survive out there without his right mind and being ready for almost anything.

"So how much longer till we reach this 'Free City' you keep mentioning?" Asked the whiskered blonde as he kept moving and avoiding the couple's attacks for his 'dancing' training.

During yesterday's session of 'dancing' lessons, Naruto was told where the Martell ship(s) was originally heading off to before he met the crew. He wasn't particularly happy when learning about the main slave cities of Essos yesterday during his geography lesson. Neither the Uzumaki and the Martells' liked the concept of slavery to begin with, but Essos has their own set of rules/traditions that contradict Westeros' system as a whole. And nothing much could be done about it.

"We'll be making port in Meereen in roughly a few hours, Naruto." Replied the Viper as he thrusted his spear, which was parried by Naruto's kunai as he ducked away from the lady snake's leathery weapon. "So be sure you have that scroll of yours with you when we try and find that one blacksmith."

Nodding at this, Naruto kept up with his footwork and movements as he briefly caught glances of his clones either helping around the two ships or learning from the documents and tomes in each respective ship.

One of the first things Naruto had to learn during the trip to Meereen was having to know how to read and write the basic language. Several clones were taught by one of the recovering Martell crew members on how to do so and some good hours later -with the clone's dispelling- Naruto was considered a decent novice on the trait. But the Uzumaki is still practicing how to write in the basic language as it was still a bit slow, along with reading documents out loud.

Though to test himself out, he summoned several clones and had them translate the Icha Icha works and the Gutsy Ninja book. It was a rough process, due to how long they had to write. And by yesterday night, the translations were done as said clones stayed up all night and day to complete their task.

Of course once Ellaria and Oberyn got their hands on the translated Icha Icha books… Well let's just say they thanked the whiskered blonde -and the original writer- for giving them loads of ideas in terms of sex.

...Yeah Naruto wasn't particularly happy on hearing that tidbit since it was even more awkward with his clones' memories having to read the entire kami-damn set.

'Why did I translate that smut?' The Uzumaki sighed in thought as he backflipped several times from the series of strikes from the lance and whip wielders. 'I should've just translated Gutsy Ninja and be done with it… Oh wait, it's because I wanted to just sell those to someone. But no~ I had to fucking read the entire thing for the damn translations!'

It wouldn't for several more minutes for today's 'dancing' lesson to finally end, leaving the blonde teenager in a slightly panting mess. He wanted things to go well here as he didn't rely on his chakra to better his footwork. It will do wonders during confrontations later on whether he fights with a weapon or barehanded. Though it's still quite a ways away for him to do honestly well if he so happens to be low on chakra.

All Naruto can do now after this grueling training session is get himself cleaned up and change into a clean pair of clothing he had in one of his storage scrolls. After all he can't be running around with his shredded up orange/blue jumpsuit now, does he? Once that's done, Naruto will need to see either of the Dornish couple to see what other lessons they have in store for him before making port.

 _ **-Few Hours Later, Meereen Port -08/296 AC-**_

Standing on the deck of the smaller Martell ship, Naruto was now clad in a spare jumpsuit with the jacket unzipped to show a black t-shirt with an orange leaf symbol. Tsunade's necklace was tucked underneath his shirt with the mesh layer underneath for protection. His wild, spiky blonde hair flowed unkempt as his forehead protector was still off since it's in Oberyn's possession in terms of their agreement. He'll get it back once they make it back to Dorne so Naruto can empty the one 'tomes' scroll so Oberyn can do whatever with them.

The shinobi helped the main Martell ship get docked as he jumped down -with a rope on hand- to help secure the ship down. As he did so, the Uzumaki gazed off to the side to see some of the merchants selling their wares for the day. Gazing further away into the distance, Naruto saw the city's landmarks as he remembered details on this place from what Oberyn and Ellaria taught him.

Being the northernmost and greatest of the three great city-states Slaver's Bay -as it was north of Yunkai and Astapor- Meereen was considered the 'pinnacle' of the middle of the Essos continent. The Skahazadhan River flowed through the city with its origins coming from the mountains to help separate the territory from the Red Waste. This also included the Dothraki Sea, with it located beyond the river in the north.

Like with it's Slaver's Bay siblings, Meereen was originally a colony of the old Ghiscari Empire, which was later conquered by the Valyrian Freehold/Empire when it destroyed the Ghiscari Empire some 5,000 years ago. Quite similar to the rest of the 'Free Cities' across Essos -once the Doom of Valyria occurred- the slaving cities slowly went back into their old practices as they reasserted their independence. And from what else the shinobi was told, Meereen is supposedly much bigger than Astapor and Yunkai combined.

Gazing at the pyramids, Naruto saw where the city's wealthiest reside while not looking down to know the poorest live in rundown communities. Even though the place looked beautiful, it was just to hide the horrid things the slave city kept behind their walls.

His little musings ended once he heard the ship's plank hit the ground near him, getting a handful of each of the ship's passengers onto the dock.

"Well… We're finally here, my love."

"That we are, my Viper." Ellaria said with a small smile as the couple stepped foot onto the wooden pathway. "Just wondering, but do you remember where the pleasure house is at?"

"Hmm… Maybe~"

"Oh Kami. Is sex what you two keep thinking about?!" Naruto yelled out as he drew attention from some of the crew members -who quickly went back to work- and the couple themselves. "I mean, seriously! Whenever not teaching me or occasionally helping around the ship, you two keep going at it!"

Oberyn merely chuckled. "Well it's one of the small things that we show each other our greatest affection." This earned a mad eye twitch from the teen. "That and we've been trying to do some of things shown in those books of yours."

"They're not mine! They were written by Ero-Sennin!"

"True, but you did translate them from their native language." Said the prince, adding in more fuel to the fire. "And by that record, you technically wrote them."

Naruto soon growled. "Stop trying to twist things around, Ero-Hebi!"

"But where's the fun in that?" Laughing at the boy's reaction, Oberyn calmed down slightly before speaking to the young companion once more. "Sorry Naruto, but consider that a little lesson for you."

"...For what exactly?"

"Try and unravel what was spoken." The Sand Snake answered, getting the blonde to look at her slightly. "No matter where you are in this world, people twist words around quite often… Manipulating people to their will."

"She's right, Naruto. Many people play this little _Game_ to gain more power and control. Turning anything around and coil themselves around someone to snare them by their throats so their asset won't turn against them quite easily."

"...That doesn't sound great." Was the Uzumaki's response. A slight, uneasy feeling came down his spine as he got what the two meant before looking back at them. "And what about now?" His question made them quite confused on what he just said, getting him to expand his question. "Are you two manipulating me now?"

"Why would you think such things?"

Turning over to the Sand Snake and seeing her confused look, Naruto answered back. "You two have been nice to me ever since a few days ago and I've done a lot on the ships. Training and teaching me to better myself so far in this new world I'm in."

"That we have Naruto… You're implying that we want to manipulate you, aren't you?" Said the Dornish prince, getting a nod from the younger man. Letting out a sigh, he let go of his paramour and walked up to Naruto and looked at him in the eye. "I get what you mean Naruto, but… *Sigh* But I don't want to do that to you."

"And why's that?"

"Because that's not something I'd want to do to you." Was the man's answer, getting him to elaborate further as he saw Naruto's curious look. "We've fought alongside each other in Old Valyria and you've helped save my life when we fought Tommen II himself… I've said before that you've slightly left an impression on me back on the island. But after these past days, you've gotten a better at it.

I admit that you being quite extraordinary would be quite the asset towards my House. Possibly rising our standing among the other main Houses of Westeros… But I've been raised slightly better that I should not manipulate and harm a child. Especially one that I can tell that if provoked, will kick all of our asses and be on your way."

"I'm not a child, I'm thirteen for crying out loud!"

"...With your height, I might've thought otherwise." The Viper jokingly said as he eyed Naruto's small form. "Don't worry, but you'll hit a growth spirt in a year or so… But getting back on things, I see you as a good friend Naruto. One that I honestly want to help you out."

Nothing much was said as Naruto heard the sincere words spoken from the prince, even didn't sense any ill intent coming from the Red Viper. Letting things sink in resulted in giving Oberyn a subtle nod from the blonde teen. With not much else, the shinobi walked past the two so he could help the ships out a little before heading out to explore.

"That is very nice of you to say, beloved." Ellaria said as she wrapped her arm around her 'husband's'.

"Well it's the truth, my dear. And admit it, you've probably felt the same way with him these past few days… Or at least close to it."

The Sand Snake didn't respond right away as she reflected back so far since passing through Old Valyria. She can admit that she was quite skeptical and worried about the Uzumaki traveling with them. With his sudden appearance and abilities would make one question such things and they have the right to do so.

But on Naruto's first night with the couple, he and Oberyn told Ellaria of what exactly happened on the island. Battles were described with much of her imagination to help on how some things were possible. The Valyrian steel scraps, bars, halberd, armor, dagger and crown were shown; making the paramour speechless on seeing so much all in one place. And even talking about the Valyrian smithing journal, the secured tomes and the sealed up corpse of Garin Lannister with Brightroar made an interesting impact.

By the end of all of this, she couldn't help but think of how big of a boom the shinobi will be towards House Martell as a whole. Varying houses throughout Westeros have their own famous assets that makes them well known -one way or another- or some great form of reputation at the current time.

With the Tullys, they have the infamous Blackfish. The Dayne's have their legendary _Sword of the Morning_ whenever a worthy swordsman can properly wield Dawn. The Hightower's used to have the White Bull, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard during the Mad King's reign. With the Baratheon's there's Robert sitting on the throne with the Lannisters allied by marriage. And speaking of Lannisters; they have the Kingslayer, the Hound and… the Mountain that Rides _._

Those were just examples at the top of her head in what made most people first think of said houses at the current time.

House Martell used to have a well known reputation, being their allied relationship with the Targaryen's by marriage of Prince Rhaegar and Princess Elia Nymeros Martell. Said marriage caused Prince Lewyn Martell to become a member of the Kingsguard so he could keep a closer eye on his niece, Elia. But things badly ended with Rhaegar's treachery that started Robert's Rebellions, resulting in Lewyn's death at the Trident with both Elia and her children's death by the Mountain himself during the Sack of King's Landing. To add more insult to injury were being clear signs of rape on Elia's corpse when presented to Robert Baratheon.

It was absolutely humiliating towards House Martell and it would take years to repair that dark part of their history.

Things might change for the better with Naruto Uzumaki and what he currently has in his possession. If he were to join their House in any way shape or form, then their standing could might as well soar into the sky. But that's too soon to tell with what potential he might have.

Though that road of thought came to a halt when the Sand Snake remembered checking up on the young blonde earlier that day. Hearing some of his cries in the one cabin made her remember that Naruto was technically a child, despite him already being a teenager. He is quite capable on his own, given what she's seen so far and heard on their tale on the island. Ellaria saw the pain and sorrow surfacing in his eyes.

And after training and teaching the Uzumaki these past few days, everything about him so far caused her to question if she could care about some stranger they just met. But something about him made the paramour want to trust him. Made the Sand Snake want to help Naruto and in return something grand might happen down the road.

Ellaria soon shook her head of her thoughts before responding back. "You're probably right. But it's still too early to tell right now."

"I agree and we'll see what will happen later on."

"...What do you think would've happened if Naruto first met any of the other main Houses back in Westeros?"

Humming in thought for several moments, the Viper responded. "Thinking the Starks would've treated and raised him like a family member, well a naive one I think. Hells, they're pretty much the most honorable House in the Seven Kingdoms that they'd rather gut themselves than use the poor lad… As for the Tyrells, Tullys and Arryns, they'd be in the same boat in one way or another. With the Greyjoys, I believe their pirate raiding would go up drastically in a horrific manner. Baratheons are a mixed bag with Robert possibly wanting him as a war asset while his brothers… meh~ But with the Lannisters, I think they would've manipulated the hell out of him in my honest opinion."

With that spoken, the two called Naruto out so the three could head into Meereen for some sight seeing and hopefully find that Valyrian steel reforger that's supposed to be here.

 _ **-On the Streets-**_

"You know… You two didn't tell me why you both wanted to come to Meereen in the first place." Stated the blonde with his hands behind his head as he looked around the stands.

"Ah yes, that's right." The prince said in realization. "With everything that happened the past few days, I almost forgot to mention why we came here in the first place."

"And don't tell me it's just to be at _those_ places." Stated the blonde as he heard from some of the Martell crew members on what the couple infamously do on most trips out of Dorne. Spending many hours at the pleasure houses and not much on anything else.

Ellaria giggled at their young companion's expense before elaborating to him. "Well either of us would say that, Naruto. But asides from now finding the reforger, we came here for the pits."

"The pits?"

"The fighting pits, to be more specific." Replied the Viper as they kept navigating through the streets. "Used in the Slaver's Bay cities, they provide the cities citizens and visitors with entertainment. And said entertainment is mostly consisted of gladiators against gladiators, beasts pitted against beasts, and gladiators against beasts."

Hearing this, Naruto thought it was quite odd and decided to voice it. "Why would they do such things, Oby-san?"

"Like I said before Naruto, for entertainment. Years ago, before the Valyrians took over their cities, they used the fighting pits as tribute to the Ghislain gods with blood sacrifices. And during the time of being controlled by the Valyrians, the pits replaced the slaves with both volunteers and the condemned.

Though years later after the Doom, traits of both eras in the pits were brought together to make things much more interesting. Hells, when I came here years ago I took part of the fighting pits so I could become stronger and more skilled. Even got a good amount of money because of it before I returned back to Dorne."

"...And you said slaves were used in the pits, right?"

"Yes I did say that, didn't I?" Oberyn sighed with a shake of his head. "I'm not going to lie to you, Naruto. It's not pretty on what was done in those pits. One of the things that makes me want to vomit if I ever hear the sounds of those other forms of entertainment."

"Would you like me to tell him, darling?" Questioned his paramour as she knows it's a bit of a tough subject to talk about. "I'm fine with telling him."

"Tell me what?"

"I'll tell him, my dear." The prince said as he patted his lover's hand before looking at the shinobi. "With slaves, they would earn fame and glory… and money for their masters as you would clearly understand." Seeing Naruto hesitantly nod in understanding on that implication, Oberyn continued. "What most people don't hear quite often -if you don't live in Essos in general- is that the worst form of entertainment often used would send unarmed slave children, old women, or dwarfs up against wild animals, so they will be torn apart… for it's blood the crowd came to see."

Hearing this moment stopped Naruto in his tracks -with a surprised look on his face- as anger started to boil inside of him. The Dornish couple saw this happen and tried to calm him down, but hesitated as they saw something unusual happen in the Uzumaki's appearance. His blue eyes started to turn into reddened slits, his whisker marks became more pronounced and his canines started to sharpen.

They suddenly didn't know what to do at this moment, before he bursted out like a damn.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THEM?!" The Uzumaki yelled out as the actions in the marketplace seemed to come to a complete halt. "DOING THAT FOR SOME STUPID FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT?!"

Shaking out of his shock, Oberyn came up to the shinobi and tried to calm him down, but it wasn't working all that well. Yelling out on his displeasure of what's going on made varying people in the surrounding people feel unsettled. Even the unseen pressure that seemed to slowly grow didn't help all that well.

'This is getting out of hand.' Thought the Viper as he felt the pressure building up in the surrounding area. 'I need to snap him out of this or else things might go horribly wrong.' Not having any other option, Oberyn decided to do something quick and somewhat drastic.

*SLAP*

"Will you calm the hell down, Naruto?!" Yelled out the Dornish prince, leaving the stricken Uzumaki speechless on the recent action. Blinking in surprise, Naruto turned his head towards the Martell with widened red slitted eyes.

"What'd you do that for?!"

"Because you were causing a scene and were doing something that I can't quite explain." The Martell gestured to the varying people in the area. Seeing them shivering with fright and on the verge of passing out made Naruto lower his head in shame. "Let's get away from here and keep moving."

Grabbing Naruto's arm, Oberyn motioned Ellaria to follow as they went through several alleyways for any chance to hide away. Given what just happened, with the Dornish couple wondered what Naruto did; that the moment people start coming to their senses, they might hunt Naruto down and do something drastic.

After moving around for several minutes, the group stopped as Ellaria stood off by the alley entrance to keep an eye out on things. "Okay Naruto... Now that we're clear -for the time being- mind telling me what that was about?" Not getting any response from the whiskered blonde, the prince sighed before speaking again. "I would obviously be asking about what you did back there, but I have a feeling this isn't the time nor place to discuss something like that. What I do want to get from you is why you yelled out like that?"

"...Because it's wrong." The Uzumaki muttered loud enough for the couple to hear.

Ellaria then called out from the alley's entrance. "I know it's wrong on what the slavers do with most of the people at the pits and it sickens us, Naruto. But there isn't anything we can do about it."

"She is right, Naruto." Said the Viper. "This is much higher than any of us can do to change this sickening habit the masters of Slaver's Bay have had for generations."

Looking up at them; showing his now blue eyes, regular birthmarks and shortened teeth, Naruto questioned this. "Then why hasn't anyone done anything about it?"

"The Valyrian's did years ago, Naruto, after they took over the lands." Oberyn answered. "But after the Doom, things slowly came back into play for these people… It takes time for proper changes to happen, yet there are those that keep that from happening for their own benefits." Once again, not much was spoken from the blonde shinobi as he looked away, resulting in the prince to release a sigh. "We shouldn't be wandering around too much now from what happened earlier… Unless we change your attire."

This got Naruto snap out of his little thoughts and questionably looked at Oberyn. "What do you mean exactly?"

Ellaria soon answered as she walked back with everything seemed clear for the time being. "What he meant Naruto is your unusual attire stands out way too much. Not that I mind since orange is a favored color to House Martell."

This seemed to peak the Uzumaki's interest greatly. "Really?"

"Yes really." Was her chuckled response, seeing the slightly brightened look on his face. "I take it you really love the color."

"Yeah I do. Orange is the color of the gods after all."

"Oh if that were true." She said while hearing Oberyn giving a hearty laugh. "Anyways going back to your attire, it's way too unique and you'd be spotted if people here are trying to look for you." Ellaria explained, getting Naruto to nod in understanding. "Don't you have any other attires with you, Naruto?"

"Sorry, but I don't… I only have a few outfits sealed up, but like you said they'll end up standing out."

This didn't sit well from the couple as Oberyn rubbed his head slightly. "This complicates things."

"I agree, beloved." Thinking something quickly, she looked around and saw a little shop and moved Naruto towards the door. "How about you stay here until we get back with some clothes for you? And no buts on anything. We don't want you running around and end up causing trouble."

"But I-"

"I hate to say it, Naruto, but she's right." The Viper interrupted Naruto in slight agreement. "Besides, you need something else other than your current sets of attire and we were planning to get you some clothes anyways while we were here in Meereen. So just stay here and we'll be back until you know it."

With that said, the couple made their way out of the alleyway and went to find the marketplace again to get Naruto some clothes to change into. But as they left him at the shop's entrance, Naruto had a slight twitch to his eye. He tried to say something to them, but didn't get the chance to speak his idea.

Releasing a sigh, Naruto rubbed his head. "I was going to suggest I henge myself so it could've been easier to move around better." He muttered to no one in particular before his eyes soon caught onto something interesting. Turning around more, he saw several other objects in the room that made him quite curious on the find: weapons. Not only weapons, but armor as well as his eyes scanned the area. "Hello~ What do we have here?"

Walking up to some of the varied weapons on display, his eyes were taking in their details to see they were of great craftsmanship and smithing. From the axes, swords, hammers, lances and spears, but Naruto didn't see much in terms of throwing weapons. Sure there were knives and daggers, but nothing in the conventional sense of being used as proper throwing weapons like kunai or shuriken.

Going over to some of the armor displayed, his eyes inspected the plating for each of the body parts. Similar to the weapons, the armor pieces were excellently crafted and he didn't have to touch them to see that they were quite durable on the high quality work. Naruto was going to check some of the other forms of armor on display when he heard someone walking into the room.

"Well that was a good order done and over with." The man muttered as he went past the clothed doorway. The man was going to say something else when his eyes landed on the potential customer. "Oh. Hello there, lad."

"...Hello." Naruto weakly said as he eyed the man and there was one thing to really describe his appearance as a whole: he was fucking tall and intimidating looking. Hell the man's imposing figure could scare just about anyone if provoked.

The Uzumaki can already tell that the larger man was a blacksmith -possibly the owner of the shop- with an aura that radiated years of smithing experience in waves. He was a large, bearded old man, at least two heads taller than the norm and well-muscled. His tanned skin was littered with burn scars with mostly seen across his bare chest and some on his arms. His disheveled, white hair was in a ponytail for safety's sake, which gave the impression of a shaggy old alpha-lion. The only things he wore in terms of clothing was a smith's apron, dirty grey pants due to the soot and grime, and heat-insulated boots and gloves.

"Welcome to my humble shop, youngster." The man's calming voice was loud, yet deep with age. His ember like eyes scanned the unusual looking teenager as he wondered if he wanted to purchase anything. "So… Need anything forged? Would you like something of me finished wares? Or possibly sell some arms and armor, if you so like?"

"Actually, yeah I do." Naruto said as he got out of his stupor. "I'd like a few things done actually, but I would want to possibly sell some items I got a few days ago."

"Ah. Okay then lad. Let's see them." The forger soon walked towards the other side of the counter and waited for the blonde Uzumaki to do his thing. "Though I don't mean to offend, but I don't know if you have much on you."

"It's alright, jiji. I have it in my pack."

"Jiji?"

"It means old man where I come from."

The blacksmith nodded as he saw the jumpsuit wearing teen reach into his pack and pulled out a scroll of all things. He didn't know what the child was doing exactly as he unfurled it on the counter to reveal the intricate artwork. It was even odd as the blonde bit his finger and wiped some blood on it. But before the older man knew it, a resounding *poof* soon followed with a plume of smoke. As it dissipated, there laid a variety of knives, daggers and a short sword that each looked worse for wear.

"...Asides from the items in front of me, lad… BUT WHAT IN BLUE BLAZES WAS THAT?!"

"...Oh yeah… Right." Naruto actually forgot that he shouldn't use his chakra all that much in front of public eyes or else he'd be accused for witchcraft from what most people in this world say from what they can't understand. Chakra -unfortunately- can be considered in that category. Since Naruto didn't have an excuse ready, he decided to tell the truth. "See… Uh… What's your name? Sorry but we didn't introduce ourselves yet if we want to do business. Right?"

"...Ah yes, introductions are in order." The intimidating smith nodded before he stood up a little straighter with a smile on his face. "I am Andre and smithing is my trade, young traveler. And what would your name be?"

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, Andre-jiji and believe it or not, but I'm also a smither as well."

This earned a curious look from Andre before he inspected Naruto a little more with a keener eye. Coming around the counter, he looked all over Naruto to get a little assessment. The shinobi was a little nervous on what the man was doing, but this seemed to settle once the man smiled down on the blonde.

"Ah~ You've got a fine spark inside of you. Don't you lad?"

"...What do you mean, Andre-jiji?"

"A spark of a smither if you ask me, boy." The older man stated with a grin. "Now that I've got a good look of you, I can tell the Smith of the Seven blessed you quite well."

When Andre mentioned the 'Smith', Naruto remembered the little lecture on the boat on what the seven gods were primarily worshipped over in Westeros at this time: the Father, the Mother, the Crone, the Maiden, the Warrior, the Stranger, and the Smith. There were more mentioned, but they were called the Old and Drowned Gods before the Seven took over as the main form of religion. And with the Smith, he was prayed more often by blacksmiths all over Westeros to hopefully make great weapons, armor and crafts.

"Then I'll take that as a compliment."

"Compliments aside… What was that little trick you pulled?"

"...Well… Would you believe me that I had those items sealed in that scroll of mine?"

"...I do." Andre hesitantly said, but not as much as Naruto was left to believe. "You seem like an honest boy and I've seen stranger things throughout my long life."

"...Okay."

Going back around the counter, he went back into business. "So you want to sell these right?"

"Well I was considering selling them, but I don't think I have much in what I have in terms of throwing weapons."

"Throwing weapons?" Pulling out some kunai and shuriken from his pack, Naruto presented them to the older blacksmith so he can inspect them. "Hmm… Interesting craftsmanship."

"Thanks. Made those myself… Anyways I was somewhat hoping I could maybe use your forge so I could use these weapons and smelt them down into my items. I could show you even on how it's done."

Andre thought for a moment before giving the blonde teen a shrug. "Why not. I've got no other orders to make today and I need some entertainment."

Nodding in acceptance, Naruto followed Andre towards the back with his scroll and spare weapons to see a larger than normal smithing room. It was well-ventilated with all of the traditional blacksmithing equipment spread throughout the room. "If you're wondering about the size, Naruto, this place used to be a pleasure house a good number of years back." Andre stated, getting Naruto to look around of the spacious area for the man's workshop. "It was abandoned as the owner moved his business a good number of streets away from here and I think that one got moved as well. Hard to remember most of those things with how changeable this city can be, if you ask me."

"If you were pretty busy, then you could fill this place up more with workers. I mean, a lot of your equipment's really spread out."

"Somewhat the way I like it if you ask me. Wouldn't like things all too cramped and end up making an accidental fire." Andre said, getting Naruto to understand that fact quite well. "Though it does get pretty quiet and lonesome in this empty place." He then sighed. "Hells… For as long as I've been here, it's been flush with a mad and wicked feel to it."

"Then why haven't you moved away from here if it's unsettling you too much?"

"Because, I honestly don't know where else to go to set up shop." Was the older man's answer. "Been to a lot of places in Essos, yet all those other areas weren't feeling right for me. But here, I just grew tired of traveling around after my teacher passed away and left me his things. So I decided to stay here and perform my skills since with them fighting pits, people are always wanting weapons and armor."

"Do what you can, I suppose. Though haven't you considered moving to Westeros?" Questioned the Uzumaki before he elaborated a little more. "You can say I'm new here and the people I'm traveling with wants to take me to Dorne. Heard it's a really nice place and quite respected."

"Maybe, but I've been in Essos my whole life and it'll be an odd change of pace for me this late in my life."

"Can't knock it till you try it."

Shaking his head, Andre let out a low chuckle before ushering Naruto to some of the tools. "So how are you going to start this process out, boy?"

Looking around, Naruto grabbed a sturdy hammer and held it up slightly with a smile. "Before we get started, do you know the tiling technique?"

 _ **-One Hour Later-**_

"I wonder if Naruto will like these."

"He probably will, Ellaria, so stop fussing around on what you think is perfect for him or not."

The Dornish couple were on their way back from the clothing section of the market place with several outfits for their young companion. During this time, the two were on their guard if any people were talking about what happened earlier, but it was quite hard with neither of them not knowing how to properly speak or know Valyrian all that well. All that either can do was pray Naruto would be alright and this little plan turns out well.

Once they made it back to the one alleyway where they last saw Naruto, they tried looking for him. "Are you sure we left him here, beloved?"

"Yes we did, Ellaria. If I was wrong then I would've been wrong on several other things."

"Then how can you be so sure?"

"I distinctly remember that we left Naruto off at a former pleasure house that was running its business." The Viper said as he checked each of the doors.

Giving her prince a smirk, she responded back as she helped out on the search. "Of course you might remember that place."

"Why wouldn't I? I've spent many nights in there where spent my winnings from the fighting pits. So why wouldn't I remember it's location."

She could only roll her eyes and shook her head in amusement as they eventually got to the one shop. "This is probably it. I just hope Naruto didn't wait too long for us." Going through the entrance, they saw the store's front and looked at the many weapons and armor. The couple momentarily forgot what they wanted to do exactly as they slowly inspected each of the merchandise displayed.

"In all my years, I've never seen such craftsmanship before." Muttered the Viper as he carefully lifted up the spear out of it's placement on the wall. Ellaria stepped back to give Oberyn some room as he slowly moved the weapon around before he sped up his swings. "It feels heavy, but definitely helps out on the swings and thrusts for striking power."

"Indeed it is, lad." A loudly, deep voice spoke out, causing Oberyn to stop his actions and look towards the intimidating looking blacksmith. "Welcome to my humble shop, youngster. So… Need anything forged? Would you like something of me finished wares? Or possibly sell some arms and armor if you so like?"

"Uh… Well…" Putting the weapon back in place, Oberyn went to address the shop's owner. *Cough* "We were wondering if you've seen a blonde of thirteen summers in here or not."

"Oh? You mean Naruto?" The blacksmith questioned, getting nods from the couple. "He's actually in the back. I'll take you to him."

Following the older blacksmith, the group walked around the counter and past a wooden door that led towards the workshop. As soon as Andre opened the door, the sounds of work and chatter could be heard, accompanied with accompanied by the sweltering heat of the forge and smelter. Stepping closer, the couple were greeted with the sight of Naruto's shadow clones toiling away on several weapons neither of them have seen before.

"He seemed… to preoccupy himself quite well." Ellaria stated as she briefly glanced at the blonde's copies working the shop.

"Verily, I might say." Andre stated as he smirked at the sight before him. "Never seen such a finer smith. Heh, reminds me of myself in my apprentice years." Wanting to get the boy's attention, he called him out. "Naruto! I believe your friends are here!"

This grabbed the original's attention as he looked up from his spot by the anvil, working on a hot piece of metal. "Oh hey guys!" Naruto yelled out as he briefly waved to them. "Give me a moment. I've gotta put this back in the fire." With that said, the shinobi smith grabbed his work by the tang and shoved it into the forge to keep it hot before making his way towards the entrance.

"You seemed to be having fun."

"You can say that, Oby-san." Naruto wiped his hands off in a spare rag, but still had some soot on his face. "After all, you two did leave me behind."

"Well sorry, Naruto, but we couldn't hide you all that well."

"And yet you forgot on what I could do exactly… I could've been on the rooftops and followed both of you or I could've used my henge technique to change my appearance."

"...Okay you've got a point there, but we forgot in the heat of the moment." Said the prince, only getting the blonde to wave his hand a little.

"It's alright and I don't mind it now." The Uzumaki then chuckled. "After all, if it wasn't for that then I wouldn't be doing this now. Now wouldn't I?"

"Been quite the entertaining guest, he is." Spoke the elder smith, walking towards a stand where the eight kunai and a dozen shuriken made from the ruined weapons Naruto collected from the island. There were even a few interesting looking weapons made from materials Andre had around the forge like a pair of sais and a tanto. "Naruto's been showing me different techniques and weapon that I never seen before. Some of them are still being made right now and we've even been trading notes as it were for comparison's sake. Like telling me a good idea on how to fix broken blades with this 'tile stacking' so I won't be wasting material."

This brightened the Sand Snake quite well. "Really? Then I can't wait to see what weapons you've helped make, Naruto."

"Will do, Ella-san."

"Pleasantries aside," Oberyn started out, gaining the other two males' attention, "we're wondering if you possibly know where the other blacksmiths are in this city."

Feeling slightly offended on what the Dornishman's implying, Andre folded his arms and narrowed his gaze at him. "And why would you want to know that? Aren't I good enough for ye?"

"He doesn't mean to insult you at all, Andre-jiji." The Uzumaki tried to calm the little tension down as he got between the two older men. "It's just that we're trying to find someone that can help us out on this little problem of ours and he's supposed to be in this city."

"And what would that be, boy?"

Scratching his head and nervously chuckled, Naruto answered the elder smith's question. "We recently acquired Valyrian steel and wanted to reforge the material."

"...And where did you so happen to come across the ancient steel?"

"Valyria." Was the response Oberyn and Naruto shared. Wanting to back up their claim, Naruto pulled out the scrolls that contained the metals they found before walking towards the store's lobby to properly present them. Once everyone was in there, Naruto drew his blood and smeared it onto the seals to bring them out into the world after a resulting *poof*.

"Well I'll be damned." Andre said in slight awe as he gazed at the unsealed halberd, armor, bars and scrap metals. "So much Valyrian steel… And you want me to reforge some of it?"

The traveling group whipped their heads towards the elder smither with a surprised look on what he's implying. "Wait… You can work with this?" Naruto asked.

"Why yes I can, Naruto." The smith responded as he chuckled at the group's surprised looks. "It's been a while but I can definitely work with them."

Shaking out of his stupor, the Uzumaki spoke up to the elder smither. "Just the halberd, Andre-jiji. When Oby-san and I got this, it was too damn big for either of us to use properly."

"Ah~ So you want to have this smelted down and properly used, I wager."

"Yup. Oby-san tends to use lances or spears as his main weapon of choice and since this whole thing is all Valyrian steel, you could use the leftovers to create a sword for Ella-san."

Hearing this, Ellaria was shocked and tried to turn down the offer, but Oberyn placed a hand on her shoulder. "We insist, my love. I wanted it to be my gift to you after Naruto and I were discussing things over yesterday." At this, the paramour smiled before capturing his lips to show much she really appreciates it now.

"Hmm… Yes I see what you mean." The giant smither said as he inspected the weapon in question while ignoring the bit of affection going on by the couple. "And do you have any ideas in mind for designs? I could think of a good number of them since I've longed to reforge Valyrian steel again, but with this fine metal procured I would like the commissioner to chose."

Naruto was about to show him his intended designs when a curious thought crossed his mind. "And how long ago was that, Andre-jiji?"

Adopting a thinking pose, the smith racked his mind for how long it's been for him. "If I were to guess, it's been roughly a decade. It was quite the unusual order on reforging some Valyrian steel he procured and wanted it to become an arakh." Naruto looked at the older blacksmith on what an arakh was. Seeing this, Andre pointed towards the side to let Naruto see a curved blade with a two handed grip. "The man said he was trained to fight like a dothraki in the fighting pits and he wanted his weapon to be quite unique."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto pulled out his sketchbook and flipped through the pages so show what he and Oberyn had in mind. At the desired pages, Naruto handed the sketchbook towards the elder blacksmith and inspected it in a critical eye. Andre gave out pleasant hums with what he was seeing and understanding.

"I think these are pretty good there lad, though some adjustments might be needed."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto soon asked the obvious question that snapped the couple's attention towards each other. "How much do we owe you for the reforging then?"

"Hmm… Normally if you resided here in Essos; then I'd charge you in the Meereenese, Volantis or Braavosi currency. But since you belong with these two -who are from Westeros- then I'll charge with their currency in their highest coin being gold dragons." The elder smith stated, getting an odd look from the blonde.

"Uh… Mind showing me what a gold dragon looks like?" Hearing the unusual request, Andre went into his little safe and opened it up before placing a gold dragon coin on the counter. Picking it up, Naruto inspected the coin in detail while the others watched the teenager. Before either of them could speak, Naruto spoke once again. "So I'll ask again: How much do we owe you for the reforging?"

"I'd be charging you one hundred thousand gold dragons for reforging the halberd into the desired weapons." This caused the couple to wince on how steep the price was. If the Martells were to purchase the reforging, then it'll hurt their financials to some degree. "Though since you've been fine company for me today, then I'd give you a discount and lower the price to eighty thousand if you could help me out on this little project. Hells I'll even teach you how to reforge the steel to help sweeten the pot."

"Really? You'd actually do that, Andre-jiji?" Naruto questioned as he thought the idea to possibly reforge the metal on his own could be pretty good if needed. Oberyn did say that the Valyrian reforgers can be hard to convince to teach others the proper way of doing so. But if Naruto can learn it, he could try and experiment on his own to make his unique take with the metal he currently has.

Andre soon chuckled. "Like I said, boy, you've been fine company for this past hour. Besides, I need to teach the knowledge of the craft before I pass on like my teacher before me. Heh, haven't had any apprentices to begin with but you seem quite knowledgeable enough to possibly make things interesting."

"Even though we've only interacted for the past hour?"

"Pretty much… So how will you pay for the order boy? You don't seem to have the money on you and same goes with your two friends." Andre spoke as he eyed the Martell couple. "Unless you have the amount on your ship… or possibly one of them scrolls with that odd magic trick of yours."

Naruto nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head before replying. "Now that you mention it..."

 _ **-Evening, Oberyn's and Ellaria's Lodging-**_

"I've got to say, but today has been quite interesting to say the least." Muttered the Viper as he laid down with his love lying next to him, naked as the day they were born in one of the bedrooms with sheets covering themselves. And it wasn't just them in the bedroom as a pair of figures were underneath the sheets as they were in between the Dornish couple's legs to orally service them.

"Obviously and it hasn't even ended quite yet." Said the paramour as she drew circles on her beloved's chest with her fingers while moaning a little on the girl eating her out down below.

During their stay at Meereen, most of the Martell crew and the couple were staying in the same building so neither of them would lose themselves when trying to find each other if spread out too far. The current lodge's interior ranged from the silkened curtains to the decorative furniture with the Meereenese style did what the lodge could do to distract the attendants from what takes place outside. Most of these lodges are made like so for wealthy travelers for a little extravagance with how beautiful in appearance it was, which is quite typical for any major city.

On their current thoughts, the couple were thinking of what happened earlier at Andre's shop with several revelations brought up. They were quite lucky in finding the Valyrian reforger in this city and had quite the feeling that the finished products of smelting down the halberd will look and work wonderfully.

Though when it came to the pricing, Oberyn was going to ask the elderly smither for a down payment with additional ones later on. The Red Viper was a man of his word and would pay back over a consecutive time.

But to the couple's surprise, Naruto actually had the amount on him… and then some. The Uzumaki forgot to mention of this during the boat ride over to Meereen. So he unsealed the rotted chest and opened it up to reveal the trunk full of golden dragons. From what Naruto explained that before he and Oberyn met, he fought some stone men along the way and they guarded this chest. After taking care of them, he took the gold as his own. The blonde figured that it was collected by many stone men across Valyria for quite some time and hoarded the gold like a greedy dragon.

'But to have that much?' Thought the Viper as he had to steady himself when hearing Naruto that he used clones to count the chest's amount that it was roughly the original reforging price. The Uzumaki paid the whole order in full and kept the rest for himself for a rainy day.

Once leaving the shop, Naruto henged into someone from where he came from. With the scar running across his nose, the dark tanned skin and the high ponytail with the odd looking attire that made the couple think it was for military purposes. It took them awhile to find the building they were supposed to be staying at. And once passing through their lodge's door, the three went on their own forms of rest and freshen up for whatever else will occur for tonight's entertainment.

For Oberyn and Ellaria, it was obvious of them having pleasurable sex in their room -with some rented girls- while Naruto took a nap in his room…. On the other side of the rented out lodge. He did not want to hear them having going at it with their translated copy of Icha Icha works by the nightstand for inspiration. The blonde just wanted to properly rest and that wouldn't happen if he heard the couple's moans and groans.

"Remind me again, but when will the weapons be ready?"

Humming -in both thought and pleasure from his recieved oral service- Oberyn pondered in remembrance on the conversation with Andre. "It's going to be roughly a day and a half -I suppose- to get everything done."

"Really?"

"Yes… Then again you would've remembered. *Chuckles* But I think I might've fucked that piece of memory out of your beautiful head earlier." Was his response before he groped her firm breasts, causing her to moan as she claimed his lips once more.

From what Andre explained on what will occur next would need the help of Naruto's clones to speed up the work process. From carving out the necessary molds on each of the pieces on the commissioned builds first to some other gibberish only fellow blacksmiths would know about. But after the necessary molding, the actual smelting process will begin and it would require the rest of the estimated time for the weapons to properly harden before cleaning up and assembling.

*Knock Knock*

"Yes?! Who is it?!" Spoke out the paramour as she soon fought down a moan as she released her essence into the rented girl's mouth.

"It's me, Ella-san!" Called out the young companion from the other side of the door. "I'm wondering if either of two love birds are _decent!"_

The lovers rolled their eyes before getting up from the bed to eventually wrap themselves in robes. "We're coming Naruto." She said before looking at their bedmates and gave them a look that they'll continue things again soon. Once at the door, they opened it up to see the freshly cleaned Uzumaki in one of the new sets of clothing the couple gave him before Ellaria spoke. "So what is you need?"

"Just playing messenger apparently." The teen responded in a dull tone before sighing. "Some of the crew said that dinner will be ready soon downstairs and they wanted me to inform you two on that. So both of you should probably freshen up… and not go at it like rabbits in heat in terms of freshening up, before heading on down."

"Of course." Inspecting the whiskered blonde before them, the Sand Snake gave off a pleasant hum. "And I've gotta say, Naruto, but you look quite handsome now."

Naruto's current attire seemed to be a drastic change from his orange/blue jumpsuit to something a little bit darker. From the brown, long-sleeved tunic top with orange stitching and sewn-in designs. The sleeves ended halfway past his elbows to show off wraps around his arms and ending at the wrist, a pair of black pants that ended at the ankles and a pair of boots that were odd for Naruto to wear. The add-ons to the attire were the wraps around his right leg to have his one little pouch tied there and the second pouch attached to his belt.

"Thanks, I guess." Was the blonde's response. "It's gonna be awhile for me to get used to though. Especially with the boots since I'm more used to opened toe footwear."

"True… But you've got to be ready for anything, even for casual wear. And what if someone were trying to stab your feet with them not protected properly." Stated the Viper, getting an eye roll from the younger man.

"Uh-huh. Though once over at Dorne -or at least heading over there- I'll need to make better footwear to suit my tastes."

"Everyone has their own style of clothing, that's for sure."

"So while you two finish getting ready, I'm heading on down and possibly snagging a light snack before the main _event._ " And with that, Naruto walked away from the two as they closed the door to quickly clean themselves up and head down for dinner… after one last foursome romp.

The dinner was a simple affair with most of the crew present while the rest stayed on the ships to properly protect them. Not that it mattered anyways since those people prefer eating that way. Regardless, everyone present were enjoying themselves as they feasted on the cooked lamb and pork with varying fruits.

"...So of course she says that I'm not the best client she ever had, even though I supposedly fucked her long and hard for a few hours." One of the newer crewmembers said, which got a few chuckles out of the others.

"Maybe it's because you have a small cock between your legs and it only took that long to pleasure her."

"Oh shut the fuck up, Marcus!"

"Maybe he's right." Naruto said, gaining several people to look at him from the table as he took a bite out of the meat. "I used to live near a 'pleasure house' and some of the workers were decent neighbors of mine. They sometimes say the same thing that they have to act that they're enjoying themselves in front of clients. Even faking on having an orgasm or two, though they aren't being satisfied at all with such small dicks… Either that or they take too damn long to actually make the girl's climax."

"Naruto's probably right, you know." Ellaria said with a growing smirk as she eyed the one crewmember. "Many times I've heard of this throughout all of the pleasure houses Oberyn and I have visited and it tends to give us some laughs… and some sympathies on those that have to deal with that shit."

This got more chuckles from the other crew members as the one started to fume more before going back into his food.

"Prince Oberyn, are you still planning on fighting in the pits tomorrow?"

Turning towards the one of the crewmembers, Oberyn nodded before speaking. "It's pretty much the main reason why we've come here. I've wanted a good fight in the arena once more and Meereen supplies the best one out of all of Essos."

"Then we'd be placing bets towards you, my prince."

Oberyn chuckled. "I would be insulted if you haven't." Turning over towards the blonde shinobi, the Viper spoke up. "And what of you, Naruto? Will you join with me in the pits?"

Putting down his cup of wine -which was a little hard for him since he was more used to drinking water, juice and soda back home- he spoke. "Are you sure about that, Oby-san?" Was Naruto's unassured answer. "After what I learned earlier today, with the slaves forcibly participating in this." Clicking his tongue, the shinobi shook his head for his answer. "I'm sorry but I'm going to sit this one out."

"But you could possibly have an enjoyable fight down there… Hells we fought well together back in Valyria against those two beings and I'd like to fight the same way again."

"True; but these are slaves we are talking about, Oby-san, Not actual, willing participants." Naruto argued. "If they were willing, then I could join since I dealt with similar fights in the past." He said as he personally referenced his time in the Chunin Exams. "But if the slaves aren't doing this out of their free will then I'm not going to do a thing."

"Even though many of those fighters are convicts, rapists, thieves?"

"I understand that, but most don't even want to do it because their 'masters' are forcing them to do so." Naruto said in a raised voice.

"I know, Naruto, but you need to face that reality isn't perfect." Said the Dornish prince as he rubbed his temples. Thinking things over for several moments while the crewmembers murmured amongst themselves before the Dornish lord spoke back. "I… respect you decision, Naruto, and I was merely suggesting the offer. Though it would be a shame if you weren't down there with me."

"Yeah… Shame."

The rest of the evening went well as conversations went onto other topics while enjoying their meals. Ellaria though kept looking at both her beloved and the blonde Uzumaki as she wanted to do something… say something. Especially since she had this feeling in her stomach that her beloved will need Naruto's help for what's to possibly come.

 _ **-Next Day, Great Pit of Daznak -08/296 AC-**_

Out of all of the fighting pits in Meereen, Daznak was considered the grandest out of all of them all. The stands were packed to the brim as slaves, masters, free people and visitors alike attended the entertainment for today. Though in one particular stand -which is reserved for high esteemed guests of honor or royalty- only had a few guests appeared seating in there.

One can consider this a grand spectacle, even before things started.

'This place isn't that impressive.' Were Naruto's thoughts as he eyed the large form of architecture. 'I think the Konoha stadium's bigger than this place, even has better seating.'

The weather seemed to be a bit better as of late with there being an overcast today to cool off the heated air and not having it be so bright. Many prefered this while others didn't, but it couldn't fully matter at this point. The crowd was cheering with anticipation as some Meereenese riders came out onto the field to do a little show before heading inside to get things started.

Soon enough, a man walked onto the field, causing many spectators to rise from their seats and give him a round of applause as he waved back to him. Naruto figured he was the announcer for today's events. From what he was told, whatever happens in the main stadium is roughly planned at the last minute so no one can know what exactly will happen with the fighters. Would it just be fighter against fighter, fighter against beast or beast against beast? Who knows for sure, but it's to at least make everyone curious on what the event holder has in store for everyone's thrill and excitement.

Before long, the announcer raised up his hands to quiet everyone down before speaking in Meereenese Valyrian… which Naruto was left in the dark on what he was saying. What… He didn't expect hearing this language just yet and no one on the Martell crew knew Valyrian all that well, even it's supposed branch language for this city.

"Do you know what he's saying, Ella-san?" Naruto asked the paramour.

"Somewhat. My Valyrian is a little rusty, but he's saying that it's great for everyone here for today's games." The Sand Snake stated before the two saw a pair of fighters walk onto the field. One appeared to be a large man while the other was of average height. "And now he's saying something among the lines of who is better: strength or speed."

"My money would be on strength." One of the crewmembers stated as he got several grunts and nods from some of his colleagues and friends.

"Hells no. Speed's so much better asshole."

"The fuck you say, Terrick."

"You heard what I said."

"Things could go either way." Naruto stated as he saw the two combatants fight it out while the crew members did their own conversations with bets. His statement caused Ellaria to look at him quizzically, to which he noticed and decided to elaborate. "Strength and speed can go either way, but it depends on how it's used exactly. Mostly depends on smarts if you want to add that into the problem."

"How so?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer but she wanted to hear Naruto's opinion on the matter.

"If you're dealing with strength, it depends on how much you exert yourself when dealing swings and blows onto your opponent. Said person would need to try and not tire him/herself out that will eventually leave yourself open to attacks. Overwhelming the opponent with strength alone won't end well if the person just relies on that." The shinobi said as the two saw the strong fighter swinging his sword around while the speeder was jumping or sliding out of the way. "With speed, one needs to be quick witted to come up with things on a moment's notice while quickly evading attacks and defenses. Having to move around quickly to get a layout of the battlefield/opponent to hopefully find a good spot to strike and time things perfectly." This was said just as the two saw the speeder swipe several strikes on the strong man's back before evading a swinging blow.

"Hmm… Seems you favor speed more than strength Naruto." The Sand Snake said as she seemed to caught onto a different tone when getting onto that part of explanations.

"You can say that." He chuckled. "Back home, the 4th Hokage -our village leader- had a technique that made him go all over the battlefield and overwhelm many of his enemies. He was so fast that he was referred to as the Yellow Flash. Even helped back up the title as all anyone could see was a yellow streak of lightning as he slew hundreds of enemies all at once."

"Really?" She was skeptical on such a technique. But after meeting Naruto, Ellaria decided to slowly approach things with an open mind on such odd fantasies.

"Yup… He was my idol when growing up and I wanted to be just like him."

"...He's gone, isn't he?"

The answer wasn't immediate as the two saw the speeder pierce the strong man's throat with his short sword, resulting with a round of applause. Taking a small breath, Naruto looked up into the sky as he replied to her. "Yeah… He's gone. Died on the very night I was born… Not a great way to celebrate the day of my birth… And the one after that and ones that followed."

"I'm sorry to hear of that."

All Naruto could do was sigh. "It's alright and thanks."

As the two saw the announcer walk back onto the field, with several men to carry the dead body off the field, the paramour asked the obvious question to hopefully help the young shinobi. "You want to talk about it more?" Shaking his head no, Ellaria wanted to help a little more. "You can talk to either Oberyn or I when you feel ready. Even what happened yesterday in the marketplace."

"Will do… Well it seems Oby-san is going to have his fun now."

Putting their attention onto the battlefield, Oberyn and five other men were walking into place with their respective weapons on hand as the crowd cheered for excitement once more. The Red Viper had his trusty spear by his side, a few knives and a short sword on his hip while wearing his signature leather armor that he wore on the island, with some fixes and add ons like some metal plating underneath for protection. The other fighters varied in terms of appearance, causing Naruto to ask the Sand Snake on identifying some of them.

Ellaria helped translate the best she could when each of the fighters were introduced. The first was apparently a Dothraki bloodrider for one Khal Drogo, who came by the city for rest and wanted to see some entertainment before passing by. Who -by the way- was in the special stand with the blue tattoos on his body and the varying braids on his head. Once explaining a bit of info that Dothraki don't believe in money, they do believe in glory. Hence why one of the Khal's fighters was attending this match.

Following the bloodrider was a Meereenese champion as he wore a black suit of armor with a lance and shield. The third fighter was a dark skinned axe wielder. The fourth was apparently a convicted thief with dual knives while the last was a fighter from Volantis with his broadsword and shield.

Soon an announcement was made once introductions were finished. The announcer stated that once three warriors remained the next portion of entertainment will begin, causing many to wonder what the event holders were planning. And once the man left the battle area, all of the fighters spreaded out and started off their fights.

Oberyn ran towards the Meereenese champion and soon clashed as both fighters wanted to prove that one of them was the better spear/lance wielder than the other. Both seemed evenly matched as they parried and dodged each of the thrusts and swings their opponent delivered. From what Naruto and Ellaria could tell from their seating, Oberyn was enjoying himself quite well in this fight of his.

The Volantis fighter was up against the Dothraki bloodrider as both were keeping up with each other. The swordsman kept blocking his opponent's arakh while attempting to slash at the horse rider's bare skin. Though one bad move proved to be the swordsman's undoing as the bloodrider got behind him and sliced the Volantis fighter's head right off of his shoulders.

With the last pair of fighters, it seemed to be a repeat of the strong man vs the speeder. The convict kept moving out of the strong man's axe swings as he threw one of his daggers. This was easily deflected before the axe wielder ran at the thief. The convict ended up tripping, which gave the strong man his chance of swinging his bladed weapon down and cleave the thief's head in half with a gory mess in the end.

Back with the lance/spear wielders, the two were still at their fight. Blocking and evading as much as they can, put the Viper was merely playing with his prey. Taking his chance, the prince threw his spear at his opponent, who moved out of the way with how fast the projectile was. This was merely a distraction as Oberyn pulled out his knives and lunged at the Meereenese champion. Said fighter jumped in the air and thrusted his spear, but the Dornish man slid on the ground so he could get under his opponent. And with precision, Oberyn shot his armed hands and jabbed the blades into the man's sides before pulling them out to stab the man's throat.

"This is turning out well." Naruto said as he applauded alongside the paramour and the Martell crewmembers in seeing the Red Viper win his victory.

"That it is."

"Though I do wonder what this next event might be exactly." He said as they saw the announcer walk into the field and spoke again.

"My thoughts exactly… That's odd."

"What?"

"The announcer just said that they're bringing in special beasts now." Stated the Sand Snake as she tried to listen with so many people cheering out at this point. "Something about… crow people?"

Once that was said, they both saw the fighters having similar looks of confusion on their faces while the large gates opened up. Not long after, what appeared to be thinly people came stumbling out as they moved in an odd fashion. Craning their necks towards the side, which soon revealed their bird like heads and features, they soon saw the fighters in the arena before screeching out a sound that seemed to shake everyone's very cores.

" _RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"_

And with that, the new arrivals lunged at the three fighters with hands extended to show blade-like claws. They were surprisingly fast as they swiped their talons at the fighters. Each held their own as they evaded the strikes upon them before killing several along the way. Many of the crow people kept screeching out while attacking the combatants before receiving great pain against themselves.

With the ones now on the ground, they started to convulse until wings sprouted out of their backs. The numbers varied, but it didn't matter as they lunged at the fighters once more. The axe wielder sliced a good number of them before he was overwhelmed and his neck was sliced opened by one of the razor sharp talons. Falling down to the ground -now dead- most of the humanoid crows lunged at the corpse and feasted on the man's flesh, which quickly disturbed not only the remaining fighters but the audience as well.

Not wanting to see anymore of such disgrace towards the dead, Oberyn and the bloodrider rushed towards the horde of crow men with their weapons on hand. Picking some of them off at a time before having to retreat when the bird men retaliated. The Dothraki warrior grabbed the Volantis sword and used it alongside his arakh to fend off the monsters while Oberyn used his short sword and one of the shields. Both fighters held their own from the onslaught, but as things were nearing its end, the bloodrider got overwhelmed and was slaughtered.

By the end of this conflict, Oberyn was met with only a handful of crows before they lunged towards the Dornish prince. Acting quickly, he rolled out of the way and ran towards the axe and used it to fend off the hungry predators. Lopping off one of their heads before cutting in deep into another's chest made Oberyn let go before using his sword to block several strikes. Though a few landed on him, he never gave up the fight as he rolled to the side, grabbed the lance and thrust it into the last remaining crow's chest, ending it's life right then and there.

"Thank the gods that's over."

"Yeah I know." One of the crewmembers said in agreement with his friend. "It was getting fucking intense if you ask me."

"Same here… and probably the rest of us mate."

Over with Ellaria, she had finally released the built up breath in her chest as she was relieved that the fight was finally over. Not just her, but Naruto as well since he wanted to rush in there and help the Dornish prince. He had a feeling Oberyn could handle himself, but if something were to happen he wouldn't hesitate in jumping in and didn't care for the consequences.

Everyone soon saw the announcer enter the field -possibly one last time- as he spoke the answer to mostly everyone's mind during the fight. It was hard to tell for Ellaria to translate with people having varying reactions towards this. By the time the paramour understood, she stood still in shock.

"Did… Did that announcer say that… Oh gods."

"What Ella-san. What's wrong?" Naruto asked as he saw the Dornish woman's widened eyes.

"The announcer just said where they acquired those beasts… They were from Old Valyria."

"...Are you serious?" He questioned with a similar reaction as herself.

"Very."

Before anything else could be done -with the announcer about to declare Oberyn the winner- deafening screams filled some of the stadium, causing many to look towards the source once quieting down. The screams continued as they appeared louder and louder. Soon enough, the source was revealed when a few people ran out of one of the gate entrances with panic across their very beings. Yelling out things in their native tongues before a massive, furred hand shot out of the darkness and grabbed the one closest to the gate before pulling him back in. The scream was heard before it was silenced with a resounding *Crunch*.

'...What the fuck was that?' Was unknowingly the same thought everyone had in the stadium before a deafening, agonizing sound was heard. Many shivered at the sound while others had to cover their ears from the shrilling cry. It wasn't long after when the being walked out of the darkness to reveal it's massive form and caused many to panic once landing their eyes upon the beast.

 _ **-Insert Bloodborne OST: Cleric Beast-**_

The creature was quite massive with hideous horns upon it's dog like face, whose shrieks sounded like cries of agony. Although at first glance, it appeared malnourished with its barely skeletal body with bloodied fur covering sections of its very being. Upon a better eye, Naruto had a truly bad feeling this monster has a form of high agility on top of it's obvious supernatural strength. With how it's built and how long it's body and appendages are.

" _ **RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

The beast slammed it's massive hand onto the ground as it stalked its way further into the stadium. People were in panic now and many were rushing to find an exit at this point. Though there were still people seated in either watching the incoming slaughter unfold or wanted to keep their religious practice in seeing the prince's death to appease their gods.

As the Valyrian beast stalked closer, Oberyn rushed towards the side so he could possibly escape. But it would not happen as the horned beast rushed in that general direction, cutting the Viper's escape attempt. Not having much of a choice anymore, Oberyn jumped back as the beast slammed it's massive arm down at his previous spot. With the present opening, the Viper swung his spear several times to draw out agonizing screeching from the beast. This soon stopped as the monster swung its massive hand to smack Oberyn several feet away from his previous position on the ground.

Back with the spectators, the Martell entourage were shocked in what they saw and were worried for the prince's condition. Not wanting to see anymore happen, Naruto rose from his seat and started to make his way down when a feminine hand grasped his wrist. Turning back, the Uzumaki saw the pleading look on Ellaria's face as it seemed to give off a mixed message of either 'help save my beloved' or 'stay or else you'll get killed'.

"Don't worry, Ella-san. I'm going to save him and bring him back to you." With that said, Naruto pulled his arm free before he ran down the steps to get closer to the arena.

With the Viper, he landed on the ground hard moments ago and had to quickly get back up so he can get out of the way of the monster's incoming path. Once out of the way, he saw the beast slam into the wall before pulling back to lunge at the Dornish prince. Not wanting that happen, the Viper threw his spear at the beast, which soon imbedded itself into its body, letting out a massive roar of pain.

" _ **RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

"Yes! How about you feel that, bastard!" Growled out the fighter as he soon ran away to possibly snag another fallen weapon to combat against the Valyrian beast.

The horned monster pulled out the spear and broke the staff in half before stomping its way towards it's prey. With it's speed, it'll reach the fighter soon enough to feast upon his flesh. And with an outreached hand, the monster was about to claim its prize when something slammed and grinded into itself, sending it back several feet.

"Get away from him, asshole!" Naruto yelled out as he landed on the ground with wisps of chakra around his hand as his last attack on the monster worked to some degree. The Rasengan was only charged up to some degree when it slammed against the beast, but it was only enough to send it back with Naruto not wanting to overexert himself too soon right now. "You're fight's with me now, you poor excuse for a dog!"

Quickly unfurling the wraps around his left arm, he placed his fingers onto the first seal and channeled chakra into it to bring out his Kubikiribōchō. With a resounding *poof*, the weapon was on hand just in time to block the massive strike from the beast. Channeling chakra into his arms, Naruto shoved the limb away before swinging his massive sword on the hand several times.

While he was freshening up and resting yesterday, Naruto decided to make seals on his forearms to seal certain weapons inside of them and bring them out on a moment's notice. He didn't want to hassle himself anymore of pulling out his scrolls in the middle of fighting since it'll cost him time needed to effectively fight his opponents. The ones on him were temporary right now since he didn't know when he'll acquire more weaponry and didn't know proper placements for them later on when trying to search for a specified seal if he wore armor.

The beast roared out in pain as the assault continued before it smacked the blonde away with it's mighty hand. Soon more pain came to him as it turned around to see it's original prey slashing and cleaving it's very legs with an axe it acquired. Blood started to seep through the wounds as both combatants went back on their assault. Slamming both hands on the ground, it did a sweeping motion to knock it's two opponents away.

"GAH!" Naruto and Oberyn cried out as they were sent away and tumbled on the ground. Naruto quickly recovered as he pulled out several exploding kunai from his pack, ignited them, and threw them at the beast. Once impacted, they exploded and caused the monster to stumble back with it's agonizing scream.

"Well Oby-san… It seems you got your wish after all."

"True, but I didn't imagine it being in this situation again." The Viper voiced out before they moved out of the way as the Valyrian beast lunged at them with fury in it's dark eyes. The beast kept slamming it's hands onto the battlefield as both combatants were attacking it from both sides of its body. Having enough, the monster spun around in a fast motion and smacked them away. In the process, this caused Naruto to loosen his grip on his Kubikiribōchō and sent it flying across the battlefield.

"Well that's going to fucking suck." Muttered the Uzumaki as he saw how far away his main sword was. Unfurling the wraps on his right arm, he channeled chakra into his hand and placed it onto the now visible seal. "At least I have this one now."

Oberyn tumbled onto the ground and saw Naruto's carving-knife sword landing far away from their position. He cursed out that his young friend didn't have a good weapon on him now, even though Naruto could use a clone to quickly snag it like in previous fights. The Viper cursed more as the monster spotted him and leaped towards him. This caused Oberyn to roll out of the way once more as he got back up and dashed towards the beast to deliver several hits onto the monster's legs.

The Valyrian beast was about to strike its prey down with it's massive paw like hand when a painful sensation emanated from it's back. Wildly shaking, the beast moved about to hopefully rid itself of the 'insect' clinging onto itself. It seemed to be worse as it soon felt a sense of burning across it's spine when the second combatant yelled out.

"Hope you like the burn since there's more where that came from!" Channeling chakra into his Valyrian greatsword, Naruto caused it to go up in flames. The fire traveled through the beast as a fiery pillar shot through it's chest before it consumed the horned monstrosity entirely.

Pulling out his weapon from its back, Naruto kicked away from the burning beast as it fell onto the ground with a mighty *thud* for many to see the burning spectacle in the cloudy day. The stadium's remaining spectators were speechless in what they just saw, even Oberyn was surprised as he saw this. Heading towards Naruto to congratulate him on the win, the Viper saw the sword in the blonde's hand and gained an uneasy feeling as he glanced at it.

"Naruto…"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't that sword…?"

"From the Tommen II fight? Why yes it is." Replied the blonde as he held the powered down greatsword in his right hand with it's crude dagger tucked into his belt.

"Why do you have that?" Questioned the Viper with a narrowed glance. "You saw what it did in our fight against him. Hells I think it's even cursed."

"Not anymore apparently." Replied the shinobi, getting a questioned look in return. "I don't know how to explain it, Oby-san, but it feels calming. Warm even. Not like the harshness Tommen II wielded back on the island. Whatever curse the sword and dagger had, I don't feel any of it's malice."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Holding up his greatsword a little, with the dagger now in his left hand, Naruto tilted his head and scrunched his face before it went to normal. "I think I'm going to call you Amaterasu."

"Ama-what?"

"Ah-Ma-Ter-Ah-Su, Oby-san. She's the sun goddess where I come from and like the sun, it's flames are warm."

"...Okay?"

If either of them would've noticed from the burning corpse of the Valyrian beast, they would've noticed the slight twitching of one of it's pawed hands. Fingers moving ever so slightly before they tightly snapped into a fist while the other hand barely started to move. Slamming it's opened paw to the ground caused the two combatants to pause their actions and slowly turned towards the fallen beast with widened eyes.

Mustering a lot of it's strength, the burning beast lifted itself up from the ground with cracking and splintering sounds coming from it's bones as the fire seemingly mended it's very wounds. The fire reignited it's fury once more as burning eyes moved from the Dornish prince towards the one that previously killed him. Bellowing out an agonizing roar, the two combatants (mostly Naruto) was assaulted with the hottest gust of air either of them could ever experience. And with the darkened sky, it helped add onto it's haunting appearance for possibly no one to ever forget.

" _ **RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

 _ **-Insert Bloodborne The Old Hunters OST: Lawrence the First Vicar-**_

"You said that sword wasn't cursed!"

"It isn't!"

Pointing his finger in an accusing fashion, Oberyn yelled out in a frightened tone. "Then explain how that fucking corpse is still moving for gods sakes!"

Without warning, the charred beast lashed out against the two combatants with a swipe of it's burning claws. Oberyn was able to roll out of the way, but not without having some slash marks across his armored back. The burning sensation alone made him grit his teeth in pain as he tried to endure it.

As for Naruto, he received the most damage as he was sent back several feet away with his tunic top was quickly burnt away. Left with just his mesh shirt and wraps to cover his upper half, Naruto groaned out in pain as he tried to get back up. The beast stomped towards him and swiped at him again with a fiery trail, causing the shinobi to quickly perform the replacement technique so a log can take his place.

Of to the side, Naruto panted out as he saw the beast quickly destroy the piece of lumber before gaining a confused expression on where the fighter went off to. Looking towards his second sword, Naruto quickly created several clones so they'll distract the beast while the original can retrieve his Kubikiribōchō. The clones were good in distracting the beast, but as each of them disbursed, the Uzumaki still felt the painful burning sensations from each of their 'deaths'. Either from being flattened or skewered by its enlarged claws.

Just when he got to his Kubikiribōchō, Oberyn was there to greet him with a pained expression on his face. He had a lance on his back and his Dornish shield strapped to his arm with the one axe held in his free hand. The Viper seemed worse for wear as he was sweating from the heat now and panting from the pain he got from earlier.

"Do you still have those food pills on you?" The prince asked with his hand held out. "I could use one right about now."

Not wanting to reply, Naruto quickly pulled out a pill and tossed it towards the prince before retrieving his Kiri sword. Once biting down on the pill, Naruto summoned a clone and handed the Kubikiribōchō to it so things could be somewhat evened out in the confrontation. Just in time too as the last of those clones dispelled, causing the beast to look around for its prey. Landing it's fiery eyes on the group, it roared out as it made its way towards them before leaping into the air. The humans scattered once it came close to landing and the moment it landed in a loud impact on the stadium's ground, the fighters laid their assault on the beast.

Oberyn would've prefered using his spear (or lance in this case) to fight the beast like before, but the axe seemed the more effective weapon at this time. His eyes caught sight of the burning monstrosity rearing it's fists back before jumping towards the side so he wouldn't get hit. Once he was clear, he continued his slashes across its legs.

Same could be said on both Naruto's as both used their respective swords to keep slashing at the beast. Though they had to jump into the air at different points in time so they could assault it's upper back and head. At one point, the charred beast swatted it's hand at the cloned Naruto and caused it to disperse. The Kubikiribōchō fell down onto the ground with a clatter before the original grabbed ahold of it and sealed it back up into his arm. The original channeled chakra into his greatsword to possibly add in more damage with the fiery coating. Much to his disappointment, the added element wasn't doing much in terms of attack power as the beast's flames and the sword's were just canceling each other out.

It was when Naruto realized that the beast was primarily putting its attention towards him as it's horned head kept shifting around for any sign of him as it seemingly ignored Oberyn's onslaught to some degree. Getting tired of the prince's onslaught, the beast stomped and slammed onto the ground several times to make both fighters lose their balance to some degree. And without warning, the Valyrian beast expanded its chest as it took in a lot of air into its lungs, before the unthinkable happened...

" _ **RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING/SHITTING ME?!" The combatants yelled out with widened eyes as they saw the fiery lava spew from it's mouth in various directions. It was hard to believe it was lava, until most of the liquid landed on the dead corpses across the field, causing them to melt.

Needing a bit of a distraction, Oberyn pulled off the lance on his back before he threw it at the beast. It lodged into its neck, causing the monster to let out an agonizing wail so he and Naruto could get in close. As Oberyn had to go through the long way of walking around and jumping over the lava pools, Naruto just leapt into the air and started slashing at the charred beast's upper body once getting onto it's back. Once the prince got close, he swung mighty swings at the monster's lower half before it's blood came into contact with his shield and axe, causing them to quickly burn away.

"Shit!" The Dornish man cursed out as some of the liquid landed onto armor, causing him to try and remove it before he was swatted away. Getting back up from his rough landing, Oberyn tried to get back into the fight when he was held back by something. Turning towards the source, he saw one of Naruto's clones latching onto his arm. "What the hell, Naruto?! Let go!"

"You need to get the hell away from the boss!" Cried out the cloned Uzumaki as kept a firm grip on the prince's arm. "It's me he wants, Oby-san! Not you!"

"Like hell I'm leaving 'you' behind Naruto!"

"I wasn't asking!" Pouring chakra into his arms and legs, the clone picked up Oberyn and ran towards the stadium's wall and over tossed him so he can be safe from harm before disbursing.

Landing on the stone, Oberyn groaned. "Miserable little shit… He's going to get himself killed."

"Oberyn!" Ellaria called out as she latched onto her lover and held him close. He tried to break free from her hold, but she wasn't letting go.

"Ellaria. You need to let go of me!" He yelled out as he tried to pry her off. "I need to help Naruto!"

"You can't, Oberyn!" She yelled out as she just held him tighter. "He's the only one that can stop that beast and if he fails then possibly everyone in this city is dead!"

The Viper tried to speak as his eyes landed on the current confrontation between shinobi vs beast. Naruto seemed to have the upper hand with the continuous onslaught from both his newly named Amaterasu greatsword and exploding kunai. As much as Oberyn hates to admit it, his paramour was right. All that he can do was silently pray to the gods, both old and the new, to give Naruto the strength needed to end the fiery beast.

Back with the fight, Naruto was dashing all over the stadium with a small fiery trial as he kept channeling his chakra into the blade to get in close before stabbing and slashing at the Valyrian beast's legs. He was starting to feel himself tiring out with his greatsword eating much of his power to keep fueling the flames. But the Uzumaki had to endure as he popped in a food pill into his mouth while slashing at the monster's lower half.

Getting tired of the onslaught, the beast kicked Naruto away as he was sent sailing across the stadium grounds. Not wanting to lose sight of the whiskered boy, the horned monster ran after him with great speeds. When getting close, it brought down it's fiery paw down and once it contacted against the wall, it exploded. And any nearby Meereenese caught in the explosion were set ablaze with their haunting screams filling the air.

The Valyrian beast whirled it's head around in order to find it's prey, but he seemed to have disappeared. Yet it seemed to be near as it felt a painful sensation at it's very legs. Whipping it's head down, the monster saw Naruto hack away at it's legs once more. And like before the beast kicked the Uzumaki away.

As the shinobi sailed away again, the horned canine-like creature gave chase. But before it got even close, the boy turned into a plumb of smoke. Before it could react quick enough, Naruto appeared before the beast with a larger Rasengan in his opened palm.

With a yell, the Uzumaki slammed his chakra technique down onto it's back. Harsh grinding and snapping was heard throughout the stadium as the beast roared in agonizing pain once more with the stadium floor cracking all over. And if that wasn't enough, Naruto spun around with his Kiri greatsword slicing right through the beast's lower back and severed it's legs.

The creature gave out it's signature, bellowed roar with the excrusiating pain it now gained. But it wasn't just from it's severed half… but with what was coming out of it's enlarged wound for a more agonizing pain onto itself.

" _ **RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

"I've heard that shitting yourself real badly leaves a bad burning pain from the ass, but that beast takes the cake." Oberyn muttered as it saw the fiery liquid spew from the beast's bottom half. It continued to flow outwards as the fiery monstrosity was crawling across the stadium in hopes of catching Naruto in its clutches.

The shinobi had to jump back several times as the monster kept slamming and swiping its fiery hands onto the ground. Even the fiery liquid it spewed out wouldn't reach Naruto as he threw several exploding shuriken onto the beast to damage itself more. And before long with the varying attacks onto the beast, it was getting more desperate in hopes of killing the blonde teenager.

" _ **RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

"Oh will you shut the fuck up already?!" He called out as he jumped into the air and carefully aimed his greatsword. Exerting his arms, he threw the sword at the beast's neck before falling onto it with a powerful slam against the pommel. Digging deeper, the blade went right through and separated it's charred head from its body. And once separated, the entire body combust into flames before turning into ash with the clattering of Naruto's Valyrian greatsword falling onto the dirt.

"Damn… That was intense." Panted out the shinobi, placing his hands on his knees while trying to catch his breath. It wasn't long as he was caught off guard as many of the remaining observers cheered at the spectacle they just witnessed. Falling onto his ass, Naruto owlishly blinked in confusion as he momentarily forgot that other people were present in the stadium. All that he could do now was rest for a moment or two before trying to meet up with the Martell entourage without anyone seeing him.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the stadium, the beast's ashes were slowly drawn towards the Valyrian greatsword as it's embers were slowly consumed by the blade itself. A faint glow emanated from the exotic metal as it ate the tainted ember before releasing a pleasant feeling if one were to hold onto it. A warm, purified feeling to be exact.

 _ **-Next Day, Meereen Port -08/296 AC-**_

"...It's still a pity that you're not staying in this city more than you have to." Andre the blacksmith said in a disappointed tone with several boxes right beside his feet. "It would've been nice to have worked with you more."

After what happened at the stadium yesterday, things were a tad hectic for the Martell entourage. First was collecting the winnings that the total the entire group accumulated was enough to buy 2-3 ships total due to the combined betting pool and the original prize winning Oberyn had throughout his fight. To be fair with the blonde shinobi, Oberyn gave him a pretty good cut of the winnings since he helped save his life once again and fought valiantly against the rampaging Valyrian beast.

Afterwards, it was hard for either Oberyn or Naruto to walk around the city after exiting the fighting pits as the Meereenese tried to interact with them. At first the two were somewhat enjoying it, despite them trying to deal with their respective injuries. But it got too annoying with so many people getting in their faces, primarily Naruto's.

Like for instance, some masters wanted to 'purchase' Naruto so they could earn more profits and earnings in upcoming games. Women tried to get into his pants so they could bred strong children for the future, which got some good laughs from the traveling group as a whole. But it got a little crazy when they heard that some of the Dothraki sought the shinobi out so they could see who was the better fighter.

After that last one, Naruto decided to hightail it out of there and hide out at the lodge where Oberyn, Ellaria and the crew was staying at for the rest of the day.

Back to the present time, the Dornish prince decided it was time to head back home once everyone was fully rested and ready to go. Though the Dornish couple and Uzumaki actually forgot to pick up their commision from Andre, but it didn't matter as he met them in front of the building they were staying at on the trip. Wanting to see them out, the blacksmith traveled with the crew so he can say his goodbyes before handing over their order.

"Same here, Andre-jiji." Naruto responded back with a small smile. "It was good to have my clone's memories of us working together on the weapons in your shop."

"Indeed. Hells, we were barely finishing things up when I heard of what happened at Daznak's fighting pit." The blacksmith said with a small pout. "Wished I could've seen that action since it's been all abuzz in this city as of late."

"No kidding." Muttered the Sand Snake with a shake of her head. "It was a complete nightmare trying to move about with people blocking our way."

"Well what do you expect when they saw possibly one of the best fights they'll ever see." Stated the Viper as several crewmembers nearby nodded in response while loading up the ships with goods. "Do you have the weapons ready for us, Andre?"

A hearty chuckle was then heard. "Trust me. You won't be disappointed in what Naruto and I made from that halberd you both acquired." Andre said as he grabbed one of the first containers. "Now for the Dornish Viper, I present to you your spear."

Hoisting the elongated box to waist level, Andre opened it up to reveal a spear made entirely out of Valyrian steel. Taking it out of its container, Oberyn inspected the weapon as it was a little heavier than he expected it to be as he saw that it was roughly a head taller than him in total length. Along the staff portion of the weapon, a feint wrapping of a metallic snake was shown as it coiled around the weapon. It wasn't too big so it wouldn't bother Oberyn's handling of the weapon when using it.

For the main portion of the weapon, it had a spiked bottom (which was the snake's tail) while having a slight wavy 18 inch bladed snake tongue sticking out of the metallic reptile's opened mouth with a fuller down the middle. In terms of additional decoration added on, there were amber gems imbedded for the snake's eyes. While it did have some leather bindings around certain sections of the pole, it still looked magnificent in terms of design.

"Magnificent." The Red Viper said with awe in his voice while his paramour inspected it as well. Swinging it around in a built up pace, the couple could hear a faint hum of the Valyrian metal singing in the air to quickly tell it was legit. "Both of you have done well on this, that's for sure… So thank you both."

"You're quite welcome, Prince Oberyn. Though you should name your weapon when it seems appropriate." Said the elder blacksmith.

Looking back at his new weapon, an idea crossed his mind. Forming a pleasant smirk, Oberyn voiced it. "I shall name her Viper's Kiss."

Andre nodded as the name did seem to work well with it's new owner to name it in part after his infamous title of the 'Red Viper'. He then nudged Naruto to grab the next container to show off.

"And this one's for you, Ella-san." The Uzumaki said as he opened up the box to reveal the paramour's sword.

It was a two foot long katana with desert snakes skin covering the majority of it's sheaf with some cloth tied to it so it could hang off of one's hip. Looking at the handle, it had a yellow wrapping with the minuki underneath it showed the Martell sigil of the spear piercing the sun. With the tsuba/guard, it contained a pair of snakes trying to eat the other while the pommel was simple with a small snake outline carved into it.

Pulling the sword from it's sheaf, Ellaria also heard the faint hum of the blade as she saw the interesting blade before her of seeing the typical outlook for Valyrian steel with some additions to it, like the darkened portion on the spine (the hamon line). Looking towards the handle, Ellaria saw that on one side had a carved out symbol of a hammer while the other had a spiral symbol on it, indicating that it was both Andre and Naruto who made the weapon.

"It's beautiful." The Sand Snake muttered as she kept inspecting the weapon in her hand. "It's an interesting weapon, that's for sure but I think I can handle using it."

"Understandable, Ella-san. And if you're wondering what it is, it's a katana."

"A katana? Huh… And does it have a name or do I need to think of one like Oberyn?"

"It does have a name actually."

"Which is what exactly?"

"Kusanagi." Blinking in confusion, Naruto elaborated on the name on the folktale from back home of Susanoo -the God of Storms- slaying a giant eight-headed snake and from it's corpse was the sword the katana was named after.

"Not bad." Ellaria said as she nodded her head once enjoying the story. "Not bad at all."

"And what's in the last container, Naruto?"

Turning towards the prince, Naruto spoke up that it was a gift for Oberyn's brother -Prince Doran- and the shinobi wants to present it to the Dornish leader once making it to Oberyn's home. Naruto explained that the halberd had extra material to make one additional weapon and after hearing about the Viper's older brother, the Uzumaki wanted to make something nice for him. Oberyn understood the idea since Naruto might be staying with them for the unseeable future, it would be best to present a gift to the main family member.

Though this left the couple on wondering what the gift was exactly as it was sealed away into one of Naruto's scrolls.

"I've gotta say you two that these works are superb and possibly the best we've ever seen."

"Heh~ that's nothing." Andre said with conviction in his voice towards Ellaria's response. "I'm practically the best Valyrian steel reforger there ever is."

"But I heard the one blacksmith over in Volantis was the best."

This caused Andre to hock a loogie onto the deck with slight disgust in his voice. "That has been? Please… That man sure is good and all, but he pales in comparison to my work. He's only well known since he advertises too often and well enough while the real smither doesn't do as such."

Naruto rolled his eyes at this since he knows the rivalry between most blacksmiths, whether by reputation or skill. It's hard to tell at times, but it's an odd force that drives other people in the craft to push forward and do better in later projects. Naruto had this happen quite often when he tried to catch up to Tenten in terms of crafting better weapons and armor around her family's shop.

"Well I think this is goodbye, Andre the blacksmith. And thank you again for this." Oberyn stated as he placed his weapon back into its case before bowing at the intimidating looking smither with his lover following the same actions before heading towards the ship.

"Well I'll be seeing you later, boy."

"Same here, Andre-jiji." Naruto said with a soft smile. "You know, if you wanted to like I said before, you could maybe come with us to Dorne."

"And why's that?"

Giving the older smither a shrug, Naruto gave his best response. "I don't know. I mean after working with you, I think it would be great to possibly learn more from you than just 'exchanging notes' and learning how to reforge Valyrian steel from you entirely… It's just that I think it would be right to finish teaching me everything you know to fully pass on your craft onto me instead of just a handful of things, Andre-jiji."

"That's quite understandable since I was thinking the same thing. And as much as the offer sounds tempting, I just can't leave right away boy. I've still got a business to run here and I can't just suddenly stop all of a sudden. It takes time for me to slowly transfer my business to somewhere else."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto was about to turn away when Andre handed him an object wrapped in cloth. The blonde didn't see this before with the containers Andre brought over. Possibly had it behind his back the entire time so he could really hide it well. Unwrapping the cloth, Naruto saw an unusual charred looking double-edged sword with it's twisted blade. It had a cruciform guard attached to a two-handed grip with a ring pommel that gave off the impression of an overly designed fire poker.

"What's this for?"

"Something that I thought I'd want to give you Naruto." Andre started out before explaining in detail. "My teacher's teacher's teacher traveled through Old Valyria in his youth and stumbled across this odd sword in this one temple. It was the only thing worth of value at the time, along with acquiring the knowledge on reforging the secretive metal. Once leaving that place, he studied the blade and tried to see if it was of Valyrian steel… which it's not. Just regular steel, but said that it had an odd feeling about it."

"...And why are you giving it to me?"

"For one, it's cluttering up space and I have no use for it." Andre answered, receiving a 'I don't buy it look' from the young man. "Okay it's not just that boy, but it's a bit of a tradition in the teacher/student line of mine. Passing this relic down through blacksmith to blacksmith to keep the line rolling. Hells maybe you could find it's functionality that neither I or my predecessors could figure out, asides from it being a glorified centerpiece. Besides, I doubt I'll find a more worthier blacksmith to pass this along after working with you."

Naruto smiled when hearing this and nodded in thanks before he sealed the odd poker sword into his arm before waving the elder blacksmith goodbye. The shinobi was touched on Andre doing this for him and he promised he'll do what he can to figure the purpose of the sword. Once boarding the smaller Martell ship, Naruto was about to help out the crew members on the tasks when Andre called out to him.

"Be careful out there, Naruto! Don't get yourself killed! It'll be a shame if you did too soon!"

"Don't worry, Andre-jiji!" The blonde stated with a confident grin. "I won't be dying that easily!"

It wasn't long before the two Martell ships left port and slowly made their way around Slaver's Bay so they could head towards the home of House Martell: Sunspear, capital of Dorne.

 _ **-End Chapter-**_

 **Viper's Kiss: A Valyrian steel spear created from the halberd the giant suited golem wielded with a snake theme to it because of the snake-like beast that possessed the armor in the first place. Can be classified as a heavy spear/lance with how much compacted metal was made into this weapon. Could be quite the deadly weapon in the right hands and Oberyn Martell can make that happen with his deadly, yet elegant fighting style. And holding Viper's Kiss increases both the wielder's strength and speed on top of inheriting the trait of it's originated weapon of breaking pose.**

 **Kusanagi: Based off of the legendary sword Susanoo gained from the corpse of the giant eight headed snake on name alone, Naruto helped create the sword alongside Andre the Smith. A Valyrian steel katana created from Gundyr's halberd. Used for quick offense and defence that could reflect its wielder -Ellaria Sand- due to her motherly nature that once provoked she'd strike without hesitation. Even inherited the trait of it's originated weapon of breaking pose on top of increasing the wielder's speed.**

 **Coiled Sword: Procured from the Valyrian Shrine's bonfire, this ancient and unique sword cannot be used… unless certain requirements are met. But even then, it's main purposes are unknown unless the power inside is awoken. Still… this sword is only bequeathed to those worthy and chosen, which awaits the arrival of ash as a scabbard.**

 **AN:**

 **Two chapters in two days? Unbelievable!**

 **Well not really, but with the previous chapter I would've had it out sooner like several days prior but work has been a bitch. Not to mention things in my personal life had eaten up a lot of my free time than I would've liked. And with today, things were going out a bit quicker.**

 **An added fact as to why things weren't going out quicker is me planning things for upcoming stuff, which will be a surprise to y'all.**

 **Anyways, for the next chapter it's gonna be a bit to upload since gonna be working out on what I wanna do for it. Pretty much a chapter before Naruto arrives at Dorne.**

 **Now there've been several PMs sent to me about why Naruto isn't in his Post 4th War appearance/age after fighting Kaguya and Sasuke for this story. As in he's not overly powered at his current state.**

 **People are just so used to reading the older version of Naruto right away and being OP and whatnot. I'm having him at what I want him to be so he can grow stronger and whatever for the current challenges he'll face throughout this tale.**

 **Not just that but in both old and new versions of this story, been asked why Naruto already knows the basic, common language of the world of Planetos upon arrival or whatever. Well I have the idea for it, but I don't want to spoil things.**

 **Also with the part on pricing for the whole reforging Valyrian steel process, I don't know a proper price on that. So if anyone can let me know a proper correction then inform me so I can make the quick change.**

 **Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!**

 **R &R**


	4. Volantis

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, SoulsBorne or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

 _Writing/Singing_

 _"Foreign Language/Flashback"_

 _ **-Scene Shift-**_

 **Chapter 4: Volantis**

The Sea Snake and Blackened Bastard -Oberyn's swan ship and the converted pirates' galley respectively- gently rocked back and forth against the waves, easily traversing forward with the wind guiding them along the Summer Sea.

It's been a week since the two sea vessels left Meereen as nothing really much happened in the trip to Dorne, which is supposedly going to take roughly a week at best. There was no pirate attack or any bad storms that occured, for instance. The only thing that was remotely _exciting_ -which is putting it mildly- was returning to the Old Valyrian borders.

The place was still creepy as hell to see from the ship's deck for the young shinobi. And luckily for him and the ships' occupants, neither of them wished to even step foot onto it's soil. No one wanted to get roped into a similar mess they went into when the ships made the temporary stop near it's shore last time.

Especially with Naruto and Oberyn with their encounter of it's stonemen and monster-like residents.

Speaking of, Naruto wondered how exactly those Old Valyrian monsters were captured in the first place and brought to Meereen. His older companions told him that people tend to stay away from the cursed territory; with only those brave, and practically stupid and greedy, would venture into its lands. It was possible that game hunters went into Old Valyria to capture new beasts for fighters to go up against to make things more interesting for the audience to enjoy. But it would've been bloody hard to acquire that giant horned beast he and Oberyn had to go up against, making the shinobi think the hunters might've stumbled upon the beast while it slept and immensely drugged it to properly transport it to Meereen.

At the current time, the resident Uzumaki was in the Sea Snake's hull as he briefly looked over the bodies of the deceased men placed at the far off corner.

Naruto had offered to seal up the corpses so their decomposing bodies wouldn't just stink up the ship, but also not take up space. After all, he did the same thing with Gerion's body in order to originally make things easier for transportation. But the respective crews turned down the offer as it wouldn't seem right at all. Stuff about it being unnatural and wanting to respect one's wishes before proper burial rights.

After that, Naruto didn't pry any further.

Letting out a bit of held breath, the whiskered Uzumaki unsealed an old book and placed it on his lap. Mind you it's no ordinary old book as it's the same tome that peaked his interest when he first found it in the shrine's library. He, Oberyn and Ellaria already went through many of the other ones that were collected from said location to kill most of their boredom.

Yet after reading many of the other books, this one had been something Naruto has been putting off for a while. Might've been from focusing on other reading materials or out of necessity… because the book was rather thick, indicating quite the lengthy read. He even checked the first several pages in order to find the index to read more on Old Valyria from where he first glanced at it's pages.

But there seemed to be much more than just that old Freehold written in this ancient tome, causing Naruto to wonder what the rest of its contents were.

'Might as well get to this, then.' He thought as he cracked open the cover and flipped through the pages to the 'official' first one past all of boring frontal stuff. 'Hope the read will be quite interesting unlike the other books we read.'

 _On the first day, man was granted a soul; and with it, clarity. On the second day, upon the earth was planted an irrevocable poison... a soul-devouring demon._

Naruto momentarily stopped reading, raising a brow upon reading the opening lines. 'Well that is rather odd for an opening.' He thought before he continued.

 _King Allant -twelfth of his name- channeled the power of souls, bringing unprecedented prosperity to his northern kingdom of Boletaria. That is... until the colourless Deep Fog swept across the land. Boletaria was cut off from the outside world and those who dared penetrate the Deep Fog from either side never returned._

 _But Vallarfax of the royal Twin Fangs broke free from the fog and told the world of Boletaria's plight. That the Old King Allant had aroused the Old One -the great beast below the Nexus- from it's eternal slumber. And that a colourless fog had swept in, unleashing terrible Demons. The Demons hunt down men and claim their souls. Those who lose their souls also lose their minds. The mad attack the sane and chaos reigns._

 _Vallarfax spoke of the enticing power of the Demon souls. For each time a Demon claims a human soul, the Demon's own soul is invigorated by the life force._

 _And the power of a mature Demon Soul is beyond human imagination. The legend spread quickly. Mighty warriors were drawn to the accursed land, but none have returned._

 _Biorr of the Twin Fangs... Yurt the Silent Chief... Sage Urbain... Scirvir the Wanderer... The Sixth Saint Astraea and her knight Garl Vinland... And Sage Freke the Visionary were such warriors. Beloved and worshipped by many were now lost to the rest of the world._

 _The colourless Deep Fog slowly creeps beyond Boletaria's borders. And humankind faces a slow and steady extinction. For the Deep Fog will eventually swallow all lands near and far. But Boletaria has one final hope. A lone warrior who has braved the baneful fog…_

 _Has the land found its saviour... or have the Demons found a new slave?_

Before he could continue forward, Naruto heard Oberyn's voice call out to him. "There you are. I was looking for you."

Quickly bookmarking his spot -not that it really mattered- Naruto closed the book and looked at the Viper. "Need me for something?"

Whenever not helping around the ships and reading through the Valyrian books, Naruto would be having lessons under the Dornish couple. Either fighting or educational in nature to better fit with his new environment.

On most times, Ellaria occasionally asked Naruto on how to properly wield her new Kusanagi sword as it's quite foreign to her. The Uzumaki did all he could as he wasn't knowledgeable in any sword styles, but gave her the basics in order to let her come up with a style that naturally suited her. Regardless of this fact, the Dornish bastard was very appreciative on the help.

During the more educational lessons one time, Oberyn's maester side was interested in Naruto's native language. His old curiosity in the Elemental Nation's map rose back up and had wanted to learn it's written language. So Naruto took some time to help him out as it was quite the challenge for the Viper, but he's getting through it… at a decently slow pace.

If it wasn't either of those in general, the couple wanted to learn more on Naruto's homeland and experiences. So he exchanged stories with them -and vice versa- as they gained a better understanding in the others' home environments as it also doubled as oral lessons for the Uzumaki.

It was quite funny when they heard of Naruto's exploits in pranking many areas of his home village. From painting the Hokage Monument in broad daylight in his orange jumpsuit, sneaking into the ANBU headquarters and causing chaos while outrunning them, and getting into certain clan compounds and dying all of their clothes into bright feminine colors without anyone noticing were just mere examples of his sneaking capabilities.

As for Naruto's missions, he first told them the full backstory on how he acquired Kubikiribocho during his time at Wave. They were astounded in how he helped liberate an entire island nation from a man named Gato, a business mongrel who ruled it by controlling the shipping routes and monopolying everything within its borders. And the only way to help liberate Wave was to help complete the bridge that's supposed to rival the Bridge of Volantis in terms of size.

The opposition Naruto and his team had to face were an infamous assassin and his protege that Goto hired in order to kill Tazuna, the bridge builder. Meetings turned into fights and in the end, justice prevailed with Goto slain by the demon assassin he betrayed in the end. In the end, Naruto helped save the country's people from themselves by helping them rise up and take action once the Mist shinobi killed Gato. And at the resting place of the deceased, the whiskered Uzumaki took up Zabuza's carving knife sword and Haku's philosophy of protecting others as his own.

And the other mission the Uzumaki regaled was what happened at his time in the Waterfall village. From befriending the young ruler, Shibuki, and a peculiar green haired and orange eyed girl named Fu before she went to a mission out of her home for the first time. During this time, Naruto eventually had to help prevent a coup as a missing-nin -Suien- wanted to take over with the legendary Hero's Water. And like with Wave, Naruto earned the residences respect and gained a better alliance and trade negotiation towards Konoha.

Suffice to say, the Dornish couple were quite entertained of the two stories while still curious on certain aspects their young companion talked about.

The Dornish prince merely shook his head a little. "Not much, just wanted to look for you personally."

"Instead of chatting with my clones?"

"I did say _personally."_ Oberyn said before looking at Naruto's position and what he had on his lap. "Why are you reading that down here, anyways?"

"Needed a little change of scenery after reading way too much outside."

"...And instead of your bunk, you're reading here in the hull," he then pointed to the corpses over yonder, "nearby the deceased."

"...I was also paying some respects while thinking things over."

Oberyn nodded in understanding before asking the obvious question. "Like what exactly?"

Naruto scratched his wild blonde locks as he sighed. "I was thinking things over that when we're at Westeros, I wondered how I would properly deliver Gerion and Brightroar back to the Lannisters."

Oberyn briefly made a tightened fist upon mention of the family and breathed to quickly cool himself down. "And why would you think that?"

"Well… if I simply bring Gerion back to his family, questions might arise with how he seems freshly dead after being presented to them."

The Dornish prince nodded in understanding. From what Naruto told him, deceased bodies being sealed away preserved them while being transported as if no time has passed. No decomposition and no horrid smell that comes with it if the body was left out in the open for so long like the bodies tucked away in the ship's hull.

"I can understand that things will get complicated if you ended up blandly bringing him back with hardly any signs of rot upon his body. Hell -if I know the Lions- they'd probably cause you misfortune and accuse you for his demise… among other things." Oberyn stroked his thin beard as he imagined that happening to his young friend, leaving a small distaste in his mouth. "So tell me, Naruto, what do you plan to rectify this?"

"When I get settled at Dorne, I'll cremate Gerion's body and hand his ashes back to his family." Answered the Konoha shinobi.

The prince nodded as it seemed an easier way to solve the rotting, decomposing problem. Yet another question arose. "And how will you prove to them that it's really him instead of someone else?"

"Strip the body of both his armor and belongings and hand them over alongside the ashes. Might be the best form of proof I could muster."

"Hmm~ Seems simple enough."

"And Brightroar will be amongst them, for obvious reasons."

This little detail got Oberyn to blink. "And… _why_ aren't you going to keep it?"

Naruto merely rose a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Think about it, having another Valyrian-steel weapon in your arsenal." A small smile came onto the Viper's lips. "I mean -for one- you seem quite well wielding it during our spars."

In order to test out Viper's Kiss and Kusanagi, the Dornish couple wanted to go up against their young friend. Naruto would've used his Kubikiribocho but it was a little too big for the limited space on the ship's deck. And as for Amaterasu, no one wanted the enchanted Valyrian sword end up causing a fire on accident… even though Naruto can only spark by fueling chakra into the blade. So the only option he had to go up against their Valyrian-blades was Brightroar.

And despite having no experience in wielding and using the sword before, Naruto seemed quite natural upon using it.

The Dornish prince then tried to apply more facts upon the whiskered blonde. "Growing your reputation -if you ever want to make one _here_ \- by having more than just one of the-"

"I'm sorry, Oby-san, but I can't keep Brightroar."

"...And why not?"

"First off, you need to remember I have a good number of Valyrian-steel sealed up that I could make them into anything to suit mine or anyone else's tastes. And second, I… I don't want to break my promise." Oberyn was silent as Naruto explained. "Sure, Brightroar does work well with me, but Gerion asked me to bring _both_ him and Brightroar back home and I intend to do it." The Uzumaki's eyes turned hard as he stared down at the Dornish prince. "I never break my promises and I don't plan on ending that trend anytime soon. For once I make a promise, I never go back on it. That's my Nindo; my shinobi way dattebayo!"

Oberyn soon let out a sigh. 'Stubborn little shit.' He thought before silently chuckling. 'But I can understand his reasons and respect his decision. Not to mention that verbal tick is rather funny.'

The Dornish prince had hoped Naruto could've kept Brightroar -instead of returning it- as a way of screwing the Lannisters up their asses. Brightroar has been a powerful symbol of their House as it boasted their people's moral upon seeing it in battle. But after Tommen II took it with him centuries ago, said moral took a blistering dive off a cliff while it steadily rose back up throughout the generations; especially with it's recent Head and Lord of Casterly Rock.

Yet it wasn't exactly the same without Brightroar in Lannister's hands.

It wasn't _just_ that fact as it was much more to Oberyn. After what happened in the Sack of King's Landing, the Viper had wanted revenge against the Lions on what they did to House Nymeros Martell. Now granted, Oberyn can't exactly go up against Gregor Clegane and slay him without repercussions as he's one of Tywin Lannister's best assets. But that didn't mean other means of revenge couldn't be done to _somewhat_ make up for it.

For now, that is.

And as for Gerion, the man was probably one of the only Lannisters Oberyn seemingly tolerated so far in his life. The man was reckless and had quite the gift for making others laugh. Tywin's youngest brother was quite the man to get along with… prior to Robert's Rebellion as relations between Houses became quite sour afterwards.

Thinking on his young friend's little creed, Oberyn spoke three words. "Unbent, unbowed, unbroken." This quickly gained Naruto's attention. "These are the words of my House. Warnings towards our enemies while comforting towards loved ones." His dark eyes focused quite well on the whiskered blonde. "I believe you keeping unbroken promises and seeing them to fruition would maybe do well with my House while you live with us, for a time."

Naruto could only chuckle as he seemed to like the Martell House even more. First were their colors of red, yellow and orange and now their house words.

"Now, I believe I came to find you not to discuss such things," spoke the Viper, "but to inform you that we're getting close to Volantis and will be docking soon."

Naruto nodded in understanding on why they needed to stop at Volantis.

For one, rest. The crews and occupants on the two ships can only handle being on the seas for so long before cabin fever takes its toll on them. And since no one wants to get stir crazy, they need to get onto dry land for some well deserved shore leave for a few days.

Second, their supplies were running low. Maintaining one ship alone with certain supplies can only go so far, but maintaining two can be a stretch depending on the vessels in question; especially with shortened staff on both causes shortages to oddly appear.

Each ship had their positive and negative traits, but it didn't matter in the end if the occupants were not happy and satisfied. So stopping at Volantis before making a beeline to Dorne was quite necessary.

"I'll be sure to get ready, Oby-san."

The Red Viper nodded and made his way out of the hull in order to finish his own preparations and to check up on his paramour.

 _ **-Half Hour Later-**_

"Now remember, Naruto, try not to use your talents out here."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, Oby-san. You don't have to tell me twice."

After the whole debacle back at Meereen, Naruto had to keep his chakra techniques away to a bare minimum. And from what he learned from the Dornish couple, his 'magic' has various results depending in which region of the world he would presently be in.

If he was in the North of the Neck in Westeros, he'd be somewhat accepted by the people of the North and the First men as they worship the Old Gods who have dealt with magic in the past… or so it's so believed. Anything below the Neck, then he'd be put into a pretty bad light by the Southerners and those of the Andal religion with the Seven, due to what crap went on centuries ago. Though over in Dorne, it could be quite lenient with what his present relationship is with one of its rulers.

Asides from the Westerosi nations, Essos is quite… the mixed bag with their view on magic.

The concept is rather soured in most of its territories due to what the Valyrian Freehold exactly did in it's reign. Dothraki -in general- are _extremely_ hesitant and weary about it, as one example. Other areas are… iffy at best due to the many religions present in the much larger continent and it's hard to fully describe them without having a massive headache by how bloody complicated they were.

Hell, even Oberyn was in an agreement with such a thought.

Having docked at Volantis' pier earlier, the ships were quickly taken care of as a small number of crew members and henged clones were stationed to be sure neither vessel were taken advantage of by any would be thieves.

It took awhile for the initial group to reach the inn where the two crews were going to be staying at during their visit here in Volantis. As much as they wanted to quickly disburse and do their own thing, it's a necessity to get their rented rooms first and drop off some of their belongings before doing whatever else afterwards.

With most of the crew members wanting to hit the brothels or whatever they had in mind -in order to get away from the hot, heavy and bright sun- Oberyn and Ellaria decided to give their young companion a tour of the city.

At its absolute height centuries ago, the Valyrian Freehold ruled half of the known world. Yet as the Doom occurred as it consumed the central pointed land in it's darkened curse, Volantis is the last city to supposedly cling onto most of Old Valyria history and traits; ensuring that it's parent's flame doesn't fully die out as their supposed heirs.

Or so what people have told Oberyn to which have told Naruto when coming here. Yet the Viper also said that those from Lys and Tyrosh have also boasted the same thing. And in truth, the cities that were at the Old Freehold borders were merely clinging onto ash and glory.

From what Naruto learned at their recent stop, Volantis is the oldest and first of the Valyrian cities when the former sheepherders decided to expand their territories. And at the Doom's aftermath, the Volantenes had tried to rebuild the once great Empire -under their rule- but they failed.

Their downfall started at it's beginning with how divided the residents were in what they thought their dominion might best be achieved. Old Blood favored the sword while the merchants and moneylenders advocated trade. As they contended for rule of the city, the factions became known as they fight for the dominant spot of the land with the tigers and elephants being small examples of said factions.

Now the tigers held sway of things for nearly a century after the Doom and for a time, they were successful. A Volantene fleet took Lys and an army captured Myr and for three generations they were all ruled from behind the Black Walls.

Yet this all ended when they became greedy and tried to swallow Tyrosh whole.

Pentos came into the war to aid the Tyroshi along with the Westerosi Storm King before Aegon the Conqueror's rule. Braavos provided the Lyseni exile with a hundred warships and later Aegon flew on top of his trusty, oversized dragon -Black Dread- to join the fight to help Myr and Lys. And in the end, the Disputed Lands became a wasteland with Myr and Lys slowly recovering while Volantis was broken after a century of war.

And with that, the city is _supposedly_ more contempt with ruling their lower classes instead of others.

"I highly doubt it." Naruto commented, earning little chuckles from the Dornish couple. "After all -like Kakashi-sensei taught me- look underneath the underneath."

"Wise words your teacher gave." Oberyn said with his paramour nodding. "And it's true what many know the Volantene apple rolled a fair distance from the Valyrian tree, yet many deny it. Always clinging onto the old ways in order to be something that they aren't."

As the three walked along, they saw hathays roaming the streets. Hathays were much like horse or ox pulled carts that Naruto was familiar with, but in this city they were pulled by dwarf-elephants. And instead of typical drivers being paid for such services, they were driven by slaves with a small wheel tattooed on their cheek. It's not just that, but the amount of slaves seen in the city were more apparent than from Meereen. They were as numerous as cockroaches, scurrying practically everywhere for their masters' orders.

And not far from Fishermonger's Square and the four story inn they were staying at, armored spearmen and tiger-skin cloaked soldiers motioned people to stand aside. Naruto was a bit confused on what was going on until he saw normal sized elephants, armored with odd mini-castle like structures perched on their backs. They were so high that they barely scraped the top of the ornamental stone arch as they went underneath.

Sensing the questions in the whiskered blonde's head, Oberyn spoke. "The Triarchs -those who ride the elephants up there- consider themselves so elevated that their feet are not allowed to touch the ground during their year of service, Naruto. They ride everywhere on elephants."

"Blocking up the streets." Naruto said before he saw something drop from up high with a wet 'slop' as it hit the street, causing him to recoil a little in disgust. "And~ leaving heaps of dung for everyone else to clean up after them."

Ellaria nodded as she looked away. "Why Volantis needs three princes, I will never know."

"Well Dorne makes due with my brother and I and our fellow Dornishmen love us." Said the Viper before his lips went down a bit more. 'Though they were much more happier when my sister was alive.'

"Question." Naruto said, getting their attention. "Are the Triarchs royalty or what?"

"The triarchs aren't kings or princes, if that's what you're thinking Naruto." Oberyn answered. "Volantis is a freehold, like Valyria of old. All freeborn landholders share the rule and even women are allowed to vote, provided they own land." The three then moved around once the spearmen and tiger-skin cloaked men allowed everyone to pass… after the dung was quickly taken care of. "Now, the three triarchs are chosen from amongst those noble families who can prove unbroken descent from Old Valyria, to serve until the first day of the new year. And -if possible- the same triarch could be chosen again depending if they're more favorable or not."

'So it's like an election.' Naruto guessed in his head.

"At least it's better than what the Pentoshi does with their 'royalty'." Ellaria added in.

The Uzumaki blinked before asking the coming question. "Which is what exactly?"

"Instead of the triarchs here -who want their position- when getting chosen by the people, those from Pentos have no say in the matter." Answered the bastard, gaining more confusion from their young companion. "Sure, their term as 'prince' can go longer than a year and at the beginning of each new year they must bed a maiden of the fields and sea respectively."

Oberyn gave a bitter chuckle. "Yes, it would've been a nice way for a naive man to look forward on the idea. But the downside of the position is that when the Pentoshi believe the gods are angry with them -like crop failure or loss in war- they sacrifice the current prince by cutting his throat to appease the gods before choosing a replacement.

Naruto looked both horrified and disgusted upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Oberyn and Ellaria shared the feeling their young friend gave out. It was not a great world like what most people pretty up for children. Everyone had their own ways of practice that for some it's frowned upon, others distasteful and the rest was a natural part of their culture, to which they've come to accept.

Hoping to get Naruto's mind off the little issue, Oberyn looked around and saw something in the distance. Smiling a little, he patted the Uzumaki's shoulder. "See that over there."

Following as to where the Viper was pointing towards, Naruto was amazed to see a giant, black stoned wall. "What is that?"

"That, my friend, is the infamous Black Wall of Volantis." Answered the Dornish prince. "With it being two hundred feet high, it could be seen cities away, even as far as the fallen Rhyone."

Ellaria picked up on the lesson from there. "Raised by the Valyrians when Volantis was no more than an outpost for their empire. A great oval of liquid stone -which no one knows how it's done- it was made so thickly wide that sixty four horse-chariots could race around it's top with hardly no problems, which they actually do each and every year to celebrate the founding of the city."

Naruto nodded as he kept eying the blackened wall in the distance. With how they spoke about it, the structure sounded like it was made out of cement; a concept that was common knowledge back where he came from. And as for it's coloration, he figured it was due to the intensive heat of dragon flames since the Valyrians made the damn wall.

Soon enough a thought crossed his mind. "Is the wall _just_ a wall to separate the city?" Asked the shinobi.

"We're not over there yet, but I might as well inform you on what it surrounds specifically." Oberyn said, getting the whiskered blonde's curiosity. "It doesn't surround the entire city, but only a certain area."

"Which is…"

"The ruling sector of this city as to where the triarchs, city officials and Volantene nobility live." This earned a bland 'are you serious' look from the shinobi. "Yes, I know the feeling quite well, young friend. It's ridiculous, but it does bring in the curiosity of foreigners, outlanders and freedmen as their not allowed inside to see what the sector looks like. Only an invitation of those who dwell inside can get you in there."

"Well that's annoying."

"Tell me about it." Ellaria commented as they traversed the streets. "I -for one- don't really care what goes on behind it's wall and go on with my business. But others, they seem obsessed with it."

"Yeah, I can understand what you mean, Ella-san." A thoughtful look crept up on to Naruto's face. "Maybe while we're here, I could sneak in there at night and see what's what." Then a mischievous one quickly formed. "maybe even pull a few pranks while I'm at it."

"As if you could do such a thing, Naruto." She responded. "The wall is very manned and guarded. The last line of defense for the more _important_ residents here from invaders. That even if people could somehow get past it's outer wall, it's a labyrinth in there."

"And yet you forget what he said and could do, my desert snake." Oberyn said as he grew an amused smile. "Walking on walls, jumping great distances, surviving falls and sneaking into places one should not be in is quite the cake walk for the likes of him." This earned a laugh from the Uzumaki. "We can discuss that possibility later, Naruto, but for now we continue exploring."

 _ **-Later-**_

'Man this place is so damn crowded.' Thought the shinobi as he, Oberyn and Ellaria were walking through the Long Bridge of Volantis.

It was originally built as an extremely large connection for people alike to cross over the Rhoyne River if one didn't want to port from the city's harbor. Up close, Naruto compared this structure with the bridge back at Wave as they were indeed roughly the same size. Though, at some point, various buildings and markets were built onto the bridge, making things harder for one to go through this section of Volantis.

The blonde's eyes wandered all over the place as an uneasy feeling built up in the pit of his stomach. He can blame it on seeing the severed body parts he saw dangling on chains to the different slaves doing their daily tasks with the small tattoos on their cheeks. Flies for dung shovelers, hammers for builders, and tears for whores are all but a few categories that reside in the city. Though Naruto would hate to imagine what some people might confuse him as a slave with his whisker birthmarks since those get mistaken as tattoos.

'Okay me.' He said to himself as he tried to move through the crowded bridge street. 'Remember what Oby-san and Ella-san told you: don't use my chakra. Even though it's not magic, it's considered so in this world and I don't want to draw in too much attention towards myself or else I possibly won't hear the end of it.'

Wearing only a brown tunic with large scarf to help blend himself with the populace, Naruto wandered about as he tried to catch up to Oberyn and Ellaria. It was starting to get a little hard to do so with more and more people blocking his way. He'll probably be forced to create a clone or walk up the walls in order to find his older companions, which is what he would normally do.

But in this case, he'd do it as a last resort.

"Sorry… Excuse me… Sorry…" Naruto kept saying as he tried to squeeze right through several people. He had a guess that it wouldn't be long until he'll end up shoved or fall down on accident with how bad some people are at the current moment. Though it doesn't mean he would suddenly find some free space for a bigger intersection. "Finally… I can breathe."

"...Lord, cast your light upon us." A woman's voice called out from one section of the intersection, causing Naruto to look towards the source. "For the night is dark and full of terrors."

Naruto soon heard a bit of an echo coming from a crowd of people surrounding the source moments ago. When gazing at the person first speaking, the woman looked like a priestess of sorts with the dark brownish-red dress and cleaned up a bit more than from the rest of the surrounding people. Though he did see -with his better vision as of late- that part of her cheek was burnt, the same part that possibly had a tattoo.

"I was once one of you -like it or not- as I was bought and sold several times in my life." The priestess started out as she seemed to tell her tale. "Branded and scourged to the point that once my usefulness was done, I would be tossed aside like a broken tool… Until the Lord heard me… He heard my voice like he hears the voices of kings and the slaves; even the stone men in their miserable times in exile."

Naruto could only sigh a little -with a shake of his head- as he heard that last bit. He saw how badly grayscale turns out on the Old Valyrian island and good luck fixing that. Would take a real miracle to do such a thing before it truly consumes them.

Asides from that, Naruto understood on what the priestess was doing exactly: converting people towards her religion. Not that there's anything wrong with that since people have the right to choose in what he/she believes in, hence one of the booms here in Essos with the various religions Ellaria briefly taught him during their ship ride to Dorne so far. Like the Great Stallion for the Dothraki, the Lady of Spears for the Unsullied in Astapor, and the Multi-faced deity over in Braavos. Even in Dorne, people there not only worship the Seven but some parts supposedly worship the Old Gods and Mother Rhoyne.

With the Uzumaki, he still believes in the shinto religion he grew up with-with some Buddhist elements here and there to help bring him a sense of comfort in times of need.

"He has sent you a savior to this world!" The priestess continued with her little sermon. "To either help bring balance to it or to destroy it! And in the end, all will be remade!"

"Well that's very comforting." Naruto sarcastically mumbled as he was walking away a little to hopefully find his companions.

"For the Whiskered Warrior will help save us all!"

The moment Naruto heard that, he stopped in his tracks and tried to process what he just heard. He didn't have to turn around to feel the one priestess looking right at him, sending chills down his spine in the process. So taking a deep breath, the shinobi brought his scarf higher to cover up his whiskered cheeks before pressing onward.

Naruto was getting slightly nervous at this point as he didn't know where he was going exactly. His mind was reeling with the priestess' words with it clouding his thoughts. Much so that the Uzumaki didn't realize he was going too fast until he ended up running into someone.

"GAH!" Both of them cried out as they fell onto the ground.

Shaking their heads to rid themselves of their slight dizziness, Naruto was the first to react after looking at the person he knocked over. She appeared to be a few years older than him, wearing a normal set of clothing in this city. Her slightly angular face was complemented with her dark brown eyes and her matching hair tied into a ponytail. With her was a basket that seemed empty before he saw several items on the ground, a result of both of their little moment.

"I'm so sorry about that, ma'am!" Naruto called out as he quickly went towards the items and started picking them up for her. Speaking up with how loud the street seemed to be. "I wasn't seeing where I was going!"

"No. No. It's my fault." She said as she got up herself and helped secure her items. "My mind was elsewhere, making me not focusing properly. Add that to the crowded street here to make things worse."

Nodding in agreement, Naruto soon saw some of the glassy items broke with their contents spilling onto the street. "Crap."

"What is it?"

"Sorry, ma'am, but it seems some of your stuff are ruined." Holding up one of the broken jars, she saw what he was talking about. "I can help pay for this, I swear."

"No. You don't have to." The dark haired teen replied as she tried to wave him off.

"I insist. It was mostly my fault and I want to make things right." Seeing as there was no way she can talk him down, the woman sighed before accepting the offer. "So mind directing me towards whatever shops you got these from? I'm sure I can help pay for whatever replacements you need."

The woman gave him a small nod as she directed him through the bit of street traffic before asking something that was on her mind. "Sorry to intrude or anything, but you seemed to be in a rush in either getting away or towards something."

"The former actually." He answered, causing her to slightly nod on the information.

"From what exactly?"

"Some creepy clergy thing I heard at the one intersection."

"Oh… You mean the Red Priestess for R'hllor, right?"

"R'hllor what now?" He asked in confusion, making the woman gain a knowing look.

"Ah. So you don't belong to Essos, I see. People who live outside of this continent don't know the religion all that well."

"Eh… You can say that. So what's this R'hllor you mentioned?"

Passing by a few other people, the woman answered back to him. "R'hllor is the Lord/God of Light; also known as either the Red God, Heart of Fire, and God of Flame and Shadow. I try not to focus much on that religion, but many of its priests and priestesses wear lots of red… Did something happen back there?"

"Yeah… The one priestess was creeping me out and I wanted to hightail it out of there."

She chuckled when hearing this as she looked back to speak to him. "You're not the only one. Not a lot of people like the religion and feel quite uncomfortable around them. Most people are when not wanting to understand what they're speaking about… Though they seemed a bit more active as of late."

"Why's that?"

"Only rumors being spread about." She answered with a small shrug. "Started out sometime last week, pertaining to something that happened in Meereen."

"...And what happened in Meereen?" Naruto asked since he had a sinking suspicion on what she might be referring to, especially when remembering some of the titles the religion's god was mostly called.

"Don't know for sure since word of mouth tends to muddle things. Something dealing with some boy fighting a fiery demon and him becoming a savior or something like that." Was her response, not seeing Naruto's nervous reaction. "Though I don't believe any of that since I'm someone that believes in things once I see them actually happen. So what ever happened over there is just glorified rumor to entertain people."

Nodding in understanding, he kept following the woman before a thought came to mind. "Don't mind me asking this, ma'am, but mind telling me your name?" This caused her to mildly stop in her tracks and turned towards him. "We might as well introduce ourselves if I'm helping you out on this." Holding out his hand, he told her his name. "Mine's Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?"

Smiling at the gesture, she took his hand in hers and shook it. "Mine's Talisa Maegyr and it's good to make your acquaintance, Naruto."

Following the now identified Talisa, he responded in kind before looking at some of the broken jars. "And don't mind me asking this, Talisa, but what were in some of those bottles?"

Naruto had started dropping calling people with their given honorific suffixes as of late, due to what Oberyn and Ellaria taught him. It would've been very confusing if being brought up all the time for explanations towards others. Yet, Ellaria seemed to like being called Ella-san so she was fine with it. As for Oberyn, being called Oby-san was annoying as hell at times but Naruto would always refer to him as such for humor's sakes.

Besides, for some reason the change of name sounded cool in the blonde's opinion.

The dark haired teenager responded. "Herbs and creams that I'm trying to experiment with."

"What for?"

"Would you believe that I want to be a healer?" Talisa answered with another question, something that made Naruto think for a moment. Though before he could give her a response, the two stopped their movements as the 'healer' stopped in front of a shop. "Well this is it, Naruto."

Once entering inside, the two went towards the counter as Naruto saw the many jars and containers that had certain labels written in what he believed was Valyrian. Soon Talisa spoke with one of the workers and eventually got the replacements she needed. Seeing as it was time for him to pay, he asked if the man accepted Westerosi currency, to which the man humbly accepted. Pulling out Gama-chan -Naruto's frog-themed wallet- the shinobi was able to pay for Talisa's order before making their way out.

"I can't believe you have something that's so cute." She giggled out, much to his annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. But this girl has been with me for as long as I can remember."

"Sorry." She apologetically said, yet amusement was still being voiced.

Looking up into the sky, Naruto guessed that it was roughly mid-day before looking back at Talisa. "Do you want something to eat? I'm buying."

She raised a brow at him before giving the blonde teenager a slight smirk. "Helping me out on replacing my damaged goods and now asking me out for a meal? My you work quick in courting me."

Realizing what she was implying, Naruto sputtered before yelling out at her. "S-Shut up! Don't you want some food or not?!"

"Sure, why not." She chuckled as she lead the Uzumaki further down the street before heading towards one food stand she supposedly goes to often. Took some minutes before the two ordered their meals and sat down on one of the outside tables. "Don't mind me asking this, Naruto, but what brings you to Volantis? You're clearly not from around here -or Essos for that matter- as stated earlier."

"I had a… world changing experience, if you will. So I'm just traveling around a little and I'm hitching a ride with some friends on their way to Dorne. Wanting to see things in a new perspective and do what I can from there."

"I can understand that quite well."

"And what about you? You said earlier that you wanted me to believe you wanted to be a healer. Is that right?"

"Silly, I know but it's what I want to be actually since most healers are Westerosi maesters and typical male trade."

The whiskered blonde shook his head as their food was soon placed in front of them, nothing much but more of a light meal for the time being. "It's not silly at all. In fact my granny is a healer as well."

"Really? How so?"

Taking a bite out of his meal, he answered shortly after swallowing. "She told me she wanted to become a healer after her little brother's death and spent many years studying the craft so she could help others in times of conflict. People said her methods and reasonings were unorthodox, but she kept forward in her goal and now she's one of the best healers that I know of."

This got Talisa to be quite interested in Naruto's 'grandmother' and seemed interested in her. "And where's she now? Maybe I could see her one day."

"...About that… She's not around anymore." He said in half truths. Tsunade's still alive and all, probably with her being so damn stubborn to keep herself alive through that is. But it's -in fact- he who isn't around her anymore after he ended up in this world.

"I'm sorry… And when was this?"

"Roughly two weeks ago."

"And is that the reason for you traveling around Naruto?"

"It's apart of that moment, but it deals with something else, Talisa. Something that I don't want to talk about." The two slowly ate in silence, with people chatting all around them. But something Talisa said earlier made him wonder about something. "You wanted to possibly learn from her, didn't you?"

Nodding in confirmation, Talisa swallowed some of her meal before responding back. "I would've liked the privilege to do so, but it seems that opportunity's gone before I even got the chance."

"Sorry on that… Though answer me this: Why do you want to become a healer? You said that being a healer is unlike a craft a woman would get into. So why become one in the first place."

Taking a swig of her drink to help clear her throat before explaining her reason. "Like you, I too had a world changing experience. It was several years ago when my parents left my little brother and I behind while they went to a wedding that lasted several days."

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Several days?"

The 'healer' chuckled at his bewildered look. "I know it's odd for a wedding to last that long, but here in Volantis it's a common practice."

"That must've been really expensive."

"It can be, depending on what type of wedding it is." Finishing up the rest of his meal, he ushered her to continue. "Anyways, the second afternoon they were gone, it was practically the hottest day I've ever experienced. It was to the point that neither of us bared to stay inside, making us head towards the Rhoyne River with all of the other children in the city. The rich, the poor, it didn't matter who you were since practically everyone had the exact same idea. We raced each other, swam towards the little islands naked so we can really cool off while musicians played for coppers by the east bank.

Well… at one point, I was treading water as I talked to one of my friends when I realized that I haven't seen my brother for a while. I called out his name while I searched and before long, I started screaming it... I soon found him, face down in the water and my heart… stopped. My friend and I swam as fast as we could in order to drag my brother back to the river bed."

A look of sadness soon overcame her pleasant features. "Gods… He was so little back then. I screamed and shook him to wake up, but he didn't since I realized he was dead. But before I could try and mourn for him, a man with a fish tattoo on his cheek ran over and pushed me aside... And before you question about it, the fish tattoo signifies a slave fisherman… Anyways I was really offended at the time when he pushed me away."

"...Why?"

"You need to understand, Naruto, that a slave pushing a noble-born child is a serious offense, resulting in death. But he still pushed me away before he started pressing his hands on his chest and breathed into his mouth. Again and again for what seemed like forever for me and before long, my brother spat out half of the river back out of his chest. He cried out as the slave cradled his head, calming him down and saying everything was alright…

And it was on that day I promised I'd do two things with my life from then on: I won't waste my life away, planning events and dancing with other noble lords and ladies. And when I came of age, I'd leave Volantis and become a traveling healer. Though the second promise still needs adjustments. But I want to do selfless acts towards others like what that slave did for me back then."

"...Well I think it's a great promise, Talisa, and I hope you do well on that."

"Thank you, Naruto."

"And when do you think you'll be ready to leave?"

"When my teacher thinks I'm ready, which I think is soon I hope. I am of age right now, but I just want to be properly prepared before I travel around and help others."

"Then I wish you luck, Talisa." Holding up his cup, he spoke up with a smile on his face. "To world changing experiences."

She chuckled before holding out her cup and clinking them together. "To world changing experiences." It wasn't long until the two finished up their meals, as they talked about other topics, before wanting to head on out. "Well I've got to get going, Naruto. It's been nice talking to you and thanks again for buying my supplies and for the meal."

"It's no problem, Talisa. Though you didn't tell me one thing?"

"...Which is?"

"How's your brother?"

"He's doing quite well actually." Standing up from the table, she headed on out before giving the shinobi a smiling nod. "Good luck traveling, Naruto. Maybe I might see you in Westeros someday in the future."

"Same to you." He said as she walked back into the crowd towards her own destination. Before long, the Uzumaki let out a sigh as he rubbed his head a little. "Now I need to find Oby-san and Ella-san, but where are they? They could be anywhere by now and possibly worried sick."

"Oh we wouldn't say that, Naruto!" A male voice called out from behind the blonde, causing him to look back to see the Martell couple looking at him a few tables away. "You were doing quite well on your own."

Seeing their smirking faces, he gained a worried look before speaking back. "And how long were two here?"

"For a while actually." Came the Sand Snake's response. "We were going to look for you when we saw you with her. So we decided to sit down and watch the performance."

"And I've gotta say, Naruto, she possibly is a real catch." Stated the Viper with a growing smile. "A smart, beautiful girl like that could be real beast in bed with her knowledge on healing." With the ever growing blush on Naruto's face, Oberyn decided to bring it on home now. "Possibly you could charm her once she's in Westeros and bed her and she'll 'heal' you back up for more."

"S-SHUT UP ERO-HEBI!"

As the teasing ended, the three decided to go through the marketplace to see what could catch their interests. Though this time, the Dornish couple kept a close eye at their younger companion so they wouldn't lose track of him again.

While in the marketplace, Naruto purchased a good amount of items that seemed to satisfy him. From a large amount of paper and ink in order to make more exploding tags and experimental seal work, to other sets of clothing. As much as he likes the clothing Ellaria got him in Meereen, Naruto wanted to get his own that possibly suited his style and then some.

He even purchased a good amount of material from one of the local blacksmiths along with some books on how he can try to speak and understand Valyrian; with some of its branched dialects like Volantese, Braavosi and those from Slaver's Bay. Though he couldn't find any on High Valyrian and the other language shown in the books/tomes they procured from the island, much to his and Oberyn's displeasure. Supposedly it can only be taught verbally and written by someone that personally knows the language.

And upon Oberyn's suggestion, the whiskered blonde purchased a copy of 'The Fires of the Freehold', Galendro's history of Valyria.

"No complete copy is known in Westeros. And even the Citadel lacked most of its content with twenty-seven scrolls or so. That is, unless, the Citadel got more material since I was last there." Said the Viper, getting Naruto to nod.

"Maybe the books and tomes we found there could fill in the blanks."

Oberyn nodded on his young companion's idea. "That could be true since neither of us have gone through _everything_ we partook from the shrine's library." The prince then rubbed his thin beard in thought. 'Maybe once back home, I should contact Marwyn and get him to come on over to Sunspear help on looking over the books.'

Archmaester Marwyn of the Citadel was a good friend and mentor for the Red Viper during his time there. The man was quite interesting to get to know with as he was quite the unusual maester. Asides from him, Marwyn didn't get along with his fellow Archmaesters as they barely tolerated him and his _delusions_. His thoughts were considered unbecoming for his status as he was quite fascinated with magic.

From what Oberyn knew of the man, he collected a vast series of ancient texts on magic which allowed him to learn on the subject. Yet despite this amount of knowledge, he was no means a master on the craft. For example, he kept a dragonglass candle in his quarters as he tried to make it's tip flicker with flame. But no matter how hard he tried, it would never happen as magic was no longer present.

This didn't mean the man gave up his research in anything magical.

If he sends word to his old friend, Marwyn will no doubt come to his home and personally ask of _everything_ that occured in Old Valyria. He would go through _all_ of the texts he and Naruto acquired -even the smither's journal Naruto has on him- and confined himself in his family's library until each and every page has been processed through his mind.

'Not to mention questioning Naruto on his abilities.' Oberyn thought as he sucked in his teeth a little. 'If he does plan on coming, I'll need to ask him to not relentlessly bug him for information. I don't want to scare the boy off if Marwyn goes all knowledge crazy on him.'

Time has passed with how much shopping was done for the three. Unfortunately, Naruto somewhat played the part of servant in carrying the many parcels and items Ellaria purchased. Sure, Oberyn helped out in the workload alongside several of Naruto's henged clones. And before one asks about sealing the items away, there was no available area nearby to properly take care of it all without being seen.

Once returning to the inn late into the afternoon, each had their own forms of rest after dropping off their new belongings. Naruto had tried to take a nap… but…

'Why… Why did I get the room right next to theirs?' The shinobi thought in disdain as loud screams and moans were heard from the other side of the wall. 'I… I can't sleep with them going at it!'

Naruto wondered if they were doing this on purpose and annoying the hell out of him. This happened _every_ night back on the Sea Snake, causing him to hop off and get onto the Blackened Bastard to sleep there for the night… And yet he could still hear their love making from such a distance!

'This must be because of me calling Oberyn Oby-san and not giving him the 'respect' he deserves. Either that or me refusing to keep Brightroar.' He thought with an eye twitch. 'Having his own form of revenge by annoying the fuck out of me so I won't go to sleep easily.' Getting up from the bed, he rubbed the sides of his head. 'And by the different amount voices in that room, it's not gonna end anytime soon. Oh I wish I knew how to make a silencing seal -if there ever was one- then this wouldn't be a problem.'

Getting fed up with this, Naruto decided to head on out and do some self-exploration around the city.

He quickly pulled out a blank slip of paper and wrote a message for the Dornish couple that he was going out. Telling them not to worry as he won't get into any trouble at all… hopefully. After getting himself ready, Naruto exited his rented room before slipping the message underneath Oberyn's and Ellaria's door.

Once that was done, the Konoha shinobi made his way out of the inn, jumping across the rooftops to parts unknown.

 _ **-Other side of Volantis-**_

'Well~ this is quite the sight.' Naruto thought as he stared at the site before him.

In his blind travel towards the Western side of the city, everything seemed to be the same throughout the land. Then again, he did most of his travel via rooftops and hardly went to the ground level. When he did, it was either to use the privy, grabbing a quick bite to eat or taking a quick look around. But when he did take a better look, Naruto realized he saw the state of things seemingly becoming bleeker. Realizing that since all the nobles, rich folk and triarchs live by and within the Black Wall then all of the poor, less-privileged people live at the opposite side of the city.

Despite the sorry state this section of Volantis was, it seemed the structure the shinobi looked upon seemed to brighten it up… in several odd ways.

Naruto didn't fully know if the structure was some sort of temple with it being an enormity of pillars, steps, buttresses, bridges, domes, and towers flowing into one another as if they had all been chiseled from one colossal rock. And the Uzumaki didn't know if it was the sunset currently taking place or not, but the temple's outer walls had a hundred hues of red, yellow, gold, and orange meet and melded like a roaring flame.

'Gotta admit, this is the biggest thing of art I've ever seen.' Mused the whiskered blonde. 'Wonder if it's the same height as the Hokage Monument back home.'

Putting this thought aside, Naruto gazed down towards the temple's courtyard and saw many people patrolling in reddened attires. Each wielded either a sword or a lance as they moved about. And entering through the main gate into the temple grounds seemed to be many cloaked individuals of similar colors.

'Wonder what's going on in there.' Naruto thought as his blue eyes briefly scanned the area. 'Might as well take a look.'

Leaping off the rooftop, he softly landed on the ground before dashing forward. Going along the fenced up side, Naruto soon leaped over and landed at the other side when none of the armed guards weren't looking. By the time he rushed forward, he jumped again and stuck onto the temple's wall before ascending it's length to find an opening.

And sure enough, he found one as he quickly got inside through an opened window.

'So far so good.' He thought as he quickly looked at each side of the small bedroom he was in. 'Now let's see what's in this place.'

Naruto first checked the current space for anything to give him a proper disguise. He then came across a closet and upon opening the door he blinked in wonder to see how empty it was.

'Maybe the person had all of his/her clothes are currently getting washed.' Naruto guessed. Quirking his head in confusion, suspicion arose before he checked the other places in the room from the desk drawers to even the dresser to only find the same result. 'Or this room is practically vacant, waiting for someone new to take it up.'

Clicking his tongue in not finding an appropriate temple outfit to help conceal himself in. He thought on henging himself into the desired attire, but he shot that down. What if he got the design wrong and could've been picked out as the odd person out at first glance?

'Maybe I could knock someone out, take and wear their clothes while I'm exploring this place.' He thought with a small nod. 'Either that or survey some people and get a visual on their attire in a semi-close matter.'

With the decision made, Naruto got up to the bedroom's entrance and carefully opened it up slowly to just a crack. He didn't want to give himself away if someone were to pass by, perchance, and cause a resulting incident. Looking through the crack, Naruto saw no one passing through, giving him the breathing space to leave the room.

Upon exiting, he quietly closed the door before looking at his sides to see himself in a closed off hallway. He made his way towards one end to get himself out of the closed space. Getting closer to a possible, open space -which surprisingly took a while- Naruto saw a glow coming from around the corner.

Seeing as he needed to go there anyways, the shinobi investigated.

Naruto did indeed reach an opened space, which caused him to hug the wall upon instinct. Peeking his head out, he looked over to see if the coast was clear for him to proceed. His blue eyes caught onto a male form walking away towards one end of the pathway while the other had a pair of individuals walking towards his position. Ducking back into his spot and scooting back, Naruto waited for the pair to pass by in order to him to move forward.

Looking upwards, Naruto scrunched his face a little. 'If only the ceiling for this hallway was higher than I could just stick to it and walk over them.' His blue eyes then looked towards the opened space and breathed out a little sigh of frustration. 'But the layout of the opened chamber is really odd with there being many floors to this place. I could get spotted if someone were to look along the walls. Especially since more people are coming into this place when I got in here a bit ago.'

Naruto didn't get much of a good look of the space -which will be rectified very soon- but early glances help in planning things out. This worked very well in the past with his pranking endeavors. And when he asked about this towards Old Man Sarutobi and Iruka-Sensei, they responded that his pranking skills were surprisingly good traits as a shinobi if one wanted to survey the land for missions or even laying out traps against the enemies.

Knowing this, he took great pride in for future moments of personal fun and when on the job.

Seeing as the next pair of temple personnel passing by, Naruto carefully stepped out of the hallway before going through the one pathway in a crouched position. As he felt he got a reasonable distance away from the people behind him, Naruto decided to take a better look over the ledge to see what he'll be dealing with.

What he saw felt rather odd for the Uzumaki.

In the center of the bottom floor was quite the large bonfire. The flames were bright and filled the space with warmth. Smoke went upward, traveling towards the opened vent in the temple's ceiling.

No, what was really odd were the people kneeling before the flame as they appeared to be praying in whatever way they fancied. As he was only a few floors up from the scene he saw, Naruto was able to get a better look of their attires due to how bright the fire gave out.

And after several moments, the shinobi slowly processed who these people were. 'They… They look like that one woman wore as she gave that sermon at the bridge.' A groan soon escaped his lips as he slowly realized on _where_ he was at. 'Should've known the details sooner that I'm at this R'hllor's place.'

Naruto made small chatter throughout the day to find out more on this god, R'hllor, after chatting with Talisa. He only got the bare minimum of information but it seemed enough at the time. That here in Volantis lies the greatest of the god's Red Temples, where many of his priests/priestesses, warriors and temple prostitutes take residence in and do their forms of worship.

 _ **-Insert Dark Souls 2: Fire Keepers Extended-**_

'I should probably get out of here.' He thought, quickly turning in his place. But as he did, he ended up crashing into someone as they fell onto the ground. 'What the hell is wrong with me today with crashing into people?!' The whiskered blonde soon heard a weak groan… moan… from underneath him? Opening his eyes, he saw he was on top of a woman with one of his hands placed upon her breast. "GAH! I'm sorry!" He automatically said in recoil with a raised voice. "You can hit me if-"

"It's alright." Interrupted the woman as she still laid onto the ground. "No harm can be given. T'is a simple accident." Her hands slowly placed onto the cooled stone as she tried to get herself up.

Seeing as she struggled -probably from the little fall- Naruto quickly went to her side. "Let me help ya up."

"Why thank you." She said, offering her hand to him. "It's a little hard to tell where to lean onto, given my condition."

Helping her get back onto her feet, the Uzumaki got a good look of her. And to his admittance that despite her attire showing she was one of these R'hllor followers, she was rather beautiful.

She had lightly tanned skin and rich, dark hair -with a streak of silvery white along the side- that was tied into a ponytail; yet it didn't stop it from forming waves both around past her shoulders and framing her face. Her front showed her curves and breasts were nicely developed and enticing to any who saw her, given the fact that she was possibly a few years older than him. And what parts of her face he could see were finely delicate, yet strongly regal.

Reason why he couldn't see all of her face was due to it's top portion covered by a reddened cloth… that was possibly a dead giveaway to her blindness.

Her attire was quite dark in color, but with what light was shown upon the material revealed it to be a rich shade of red as if brushing over black. It was a nicely designed robe-like dress -which reached towards her ankles- with some dark chain wrapped around her waist to help tie it together. Draped over her shoulders was a shall that was lightly colored from the rest of her outfit. And to finish off her attire were red, fingerless gloves that appeared likes wraps which reached into the robe's sleeves.

"Um… sorry about bumping into you, ma'am. Didn't mean to do it. Honest."

"Like I said before, it's alright."

"Could've heard ya, but…" Naruto tried to think of an excuse for his distraction on not noticing her. "I didn't hear ya."

The blind woman in red merely gave a soft smile. "I've been known to have quiet steps." She pursed her lips and tilted her head as if trying to process something in her head. "I don't recognize your voice." He stiffened upon her saying this. "Are you new here? Or even a visitor, perchance?"

'Visitor?' Naruto thought before remembering a small detail from back home.

When it pertained to faith, people often went to temples for some sort of self-discovery. Whether it was for repentance, questioning their faith in their religion or questioning if they want to be converted or not. Many things are accounted for on this, no matter what religion there is like the main one back home or that creepy one he heard in passing pertaining Jashinism; which used to be practiced back in the Land of Hot Water.

He didn't know if this fact still applied here, but Naruto _had_ to take the chance or else he'd be discovered and questioned on his intentions. "Yeah, I'm a visitor."

"Do you have business with one of our priests or priestesses?"

"No."

"Did you come here to take pleasure from one of our-"

"Oh nonononono!" Naruto frantically said as he quickly waved his hands.

With how the blind woman stood there, Naruto wondered if she blinked behind the cloth in response. "Ah, so you're here to wonder about our faith, then."

"...Yes."

"Good to know… Though answer me this. Why aren't you with one of our priests or priestesses to give you a tour?"

"I… wasn't given one." He said as he was mildly sweating in slight nervousness. 'Please buy it. Please by it!'

"How strange." Voiced the woman in red. "Usually one is assigned to visitors of this nature." She then shook her head. "Since you're not in company with one of my fellow priests or priestesses, I might as well fill in that role." The blind priestess then held out her arm. "Mind accompanying me? Despite me living here almost all my life, I sometimes get lost in my way or even my step."

"That must not have been great." He said before looking at her arm as he got a little idea on what to do. Slipping his arm around hers, the pair soon walked.

"Indeed." She responded with a sigh. "Been many times I tripped, fell or lost my footing."

Naruto cringed. "Sorry to hear that."

"No worries. I've slowly gotten used to it, over time that is."

Naruto wasn't one to be worried over his mistakes, getting punched daily back at Konoha tends to make one either fix his mistakes or roll with the punches, but people with disabilities were rare to him. He has seen the occioanosal blind or mute person in the red light district or streets in his old home, but this was the first talking to one about… their weakness.

"Would you mind settling my curiosity and tell me your name?" Asked the blind teen in red.

Seeing no harm, he answered. "Mines Naruto. Yours?"

"My name is Rhae."

"Rai?" He asked using the more familiar version of the name, to make sure he didn't get it wrong.

Rhae merely rose a brow under her blindfold. "Eh, no. It's Rhae, like the sun rays."

"Right, sorry."

Coming across a flight of stone stairs, the shinobi carefully held her arm just in case if she were to fall. The girl blushed slightly, but let it go as she knew the teen was protecting her and will do even if she said no. "That name of yours… where does it hale?"

"From a far away land." He quickly answered. "Nowhere you'd ever really know."

"If you say so." As they slowly descended the steps, Rhae spoke a question. "Now what are you curious about our faith?"

"Well given I don't know very much about it, only the basics." He said, leading her gently into each step. "All I know is that R'hllor is the Lord/God of Light; also known as either the Red God, Heart of Fire, and God of Flame and Shadow."

Naruto always wanted to escort a princess and thankfully this girl was cute enough. He had hoped in having the chance with Koyuki after his mission back in the Land of Snow/Spring, but his team had to get back home sometime after his recovery and her coronation.

Some practice for the near future after all wouldn't hurt…

"It is quite common for many to only know the simple notions of one's religion. Whether they be good or bad."

"Especially with the people burning." Naruto muttered under his breath.

Hearing him caused her to sigh. "That being the more well known one." The shinobi stiffened and tried to apologize, yet she held up her free hand. "Burning people at the stake has only been used against the guilty and sinners in the past." They continued walking down the steps as she kept talking. "Has been the means of cleansing them before meeting our Lord for final judgement for either paradise or damnation. But some of our more… _escentric_ members went too far in the past, causing many to look upon our faith in a bad light with the act. And because of this, we've been mending the mistakes they've made."

"I can… probably understand that, Rhae. But something like _that_ is gonna be really hard to fix."

"Most definitely. Men and women alike make mistakes, even the more honest servants of His will."

"And I wonder that if _everything_ is under your God's will, would he allow _all_ that to happen?"

"Who's the say." She said as the pair eventually made it towards the ground floor. "It's quite fine to have a healthy skepticism, but not everything can be answered; which causes all of us to wonder on the bigger mysteries we question about." Making past several of her fellow worshipers, Rhae spoke in her soft voice. "Everyone is what they are and where they are for a reason. Good and bad things happen for a reason."

"If you're talking about Fate already having a set course for everyone, well I gotta tell ya but I don't follow that, Rhae."

This seemed to peak her interest. "And why, pray tell, would you say that?"

"If I have a destiny and it turns out it's not something that I like, I want to have the courage defy it and forge it the way I want it to be." He then gave her a fox-like grin… not like she could see it. "And since I've stared Death in the face a good number of times, then why should I stop now?"

"And why would you think of this?"

Naruto sighed, scratching his golden locks. "Throughout most of my life, I've been deemed as a failure by many. Even after confronting a fellow villager who thought everyone had a set destiny that couldn't be fought. Spouting that everyone's lives consisted only of being swept along in the inescapable current with nowhere else to go until the very, bitter end.

But there's an analogy I heard from a teacher of mine on what he thought about destiny. That if a fish lives its whole life in a river, does it know the river's destiny? Not at all. Only that it runs on and on, out of the fish's control. It may follow where it flows, but it cannot see the end, thus it cannot imagine the ocean.

This got me to realize that a person makes their own fate with hard work and determination. And if I do nothing about it, then I would end up following what everyone thinks of me. I want to prove everyone wrong that I'm not a good for nothing that I can be something more than what they want to bitterly believe."

The blind priestess hummed, digesting what he said. "Quite the admirable thought you have, Naruto." Rhae said with a soft smile. "Not many believe in such a thing as they are held down to status' they've been born into and not wanting to change their personal flow. Either from being too comfortable or too scared to move on from their current positions."

"No doubt about that." Rhae merely kept her smile as they walked around the people praying towards the fire. Seeing this happen, Naruto decided to get back to the little matter as to why he's here. "Mind telling me what's so important about this religion of yours? I know you worship this R'hllor guy, but there doesn't seem to be anything significant as to how he has so many followers."

The priestess nodded. "Of course, Naruto. I'll be glad to answer. You see… our religion has been not only built on the teachings of our Lord, but on a prophecy."

"A prophecy?" Naruto questioned for confirmation, earning a nod in return. "That… is rather odd."

She gave a shrug. "That's what I thought as well when I was first taken into this temple when I was young, but it's how it's been for generations, Naruto."

"Speaking of, I heard many of the priests and priestesses were first taken in as children-"

"And I was one of them."

"...Well I was gonna say of them being bought as they were previously slaves." He said, remembering that one priestess from the bridge as she used to be a slave before taken in; to which he assumed she was purchased in some way.

"Oh… If you're suggesting that I was a slave, no I was not."

"Then how did you come here into the first place, if you don't mind me asking?"

The blind woman nodded as she stopped walking. Turning her head towards the fire and seemingly stared into the flames… if that were possible. "I was around two… or three years old when I first came here. I can't remember much of my life before then… except a hot burning on my eyes… womanly screams… and a nice fragrant smell."

With his free hand, Naruto scratched his whiskered cheek. 'So whatever happened back then made her go blind.' He thought before voicing a question. "Were the screams that of your mother's, a relative or caretaker?"

The priestess rubbed her forehead, trying to focus on the memory. "Sad to say, but it's hard to remember."

Despite his one arm laced with hers, Naruto waved both limbs. "Hey, I'm not trying to force ya to remember or anything. I was merely curious."

Rhae patted his arm and gave him a warm smile. "You're quite alright, Naruto, and I understand."

"Thanks… Now what do you remember?"

"Asides from what I said, I… also remember being on a boat before sounds of a storm took place. And from there, I remember drowning as I assume the boat capsized in said storm. And next thing I knew, I was being taken care of by my savior and soon to be mentor." A bright smile graced her face. "She was so kind to me as she nursed me back to health. Taught me everything I needed to know on current affairs, politics, numbers, and so much more. And she told me our Lord gave her a vision to find me near the shores of Lys." The arm slinged around the shinobi's soon tightened. "If it wasn't for both of them, then I would've either died or possibly been given a crueler fate."

Naruto was a little skeptic on the whole vision bit, but he had an idea on what Rhae possibly went through. "From what I'm guessing here, this mentor of yours gave you a purpose at some point of becoming a priestess, right?"

"That is correct." Rhae answered before a looked crossed her half visible face. "By the way you spoke, you met someone that was similar as I, correct?"

A bitter smile was present on the Uzumaki's face as he remembered Haku. "In a way, yeah. And before you ask, he's dead." He said as he's still annoyed if Haku was still either a boy or a girl.

"Of course." Was her response as she motioned for them to resume their walk. "Now… even though I'm considered a priestess -a low one at that by many of my peers- I'm at least glad of my blindness as I don't have to work on seeing visions through candles or fires, which is how we usually receive messages from our Lord."

Though mildly glad to get back into track of things, Naruto quirked his head at this fact she brought up. "And why's that?"

"I've been told from my mentor that some visions are sometimes prophecies and I typically go from there."

This merely confused the hell out of him, causing him to voice his thought. "I don't understand what ya mean."

"To my understanding, prophecies are a double-edged sword. You have to handle them carefully. They can add depth and interest, but you don't want to be too literal or too easy."

A knowing look crossed his whiskered visage. "Looking underneath the underneath."

"...Excuse me?"

"Sorry, something one of my teachers taught me and I believe that applies to practically everything."

Rhae adopted a thinking pose as she thought through his words. "Pardon my words, but I _see_ what you mean by that, Naruto."

Naruto merely chuckled a little on what she did there. And it seemed his response was a little infectious as she followed suit.

"Getting back into things," Rhae said once the mood settled, "from my lessons from under my mentor, I was told something quite interesting that pertained to prophecies." This got Naruto's attention as the pair made their way through a hallway as if she was leading him somewhere. "She said that Gorghan of Old Ghis once wrote that a prophecy is like a treacherous woman. She takes your member in her mouth, and you moan with the pleasure of it and think, how sweet, how fine, how good this is… and then her teeth snap shut and your moans turn to screams." Naruto unconsciously crossed his legs on this bit. "That is the nature of prophecy as it will bite your prick off every time."

The Uzumaki soon scratched the back of his head, while briefly patting his lower regions a little on the… recent analogy. "Yeah, I can understand what you're talking about. People being so focused and entrapped to prophecy in one way turns out to be for another and if focused on the former, then you'd get screwed."

"I wouldn't put it like that, but you have the gist of it." She responded as they eventually made it passed a doorway towards the outside. Despite feeling the contrast of heat, Rhae didn't seem bothered by it and neither did Naruto. "And even if you do know about prophecies, you don't want to change its course or alter it or else it might turn out badly that it might happen anyways -despite you adverting it- or something else will occur."

"Thus most prophecies are self-fulfilling when people try their best efforts to prevent them in some shape or form." Naruto summarized.

"Exactly."

The shinobi looked out towards the scenery of his current view of Volantis as the sun setted before them and admitted it was a nice sight to behold. After several moments of processing the recent topic, one needed to be discussed. "You kept talking about prophecies, but never really went into what it is your religion is hanging onto exactly."

Naruto could possibly tell the blind girl was blinking from behind the cloth wrapped around her head by the time she spoke next. "Ah, yes, I believe so."

"Then mind telling me what it is?

"Why of course. But before telling the prophecy, I should tell you the backstory behind it all."

Naruto merely shrugged. "Eh~ don't see why not since got nothing else to do."

"Great." She said with a smile before coughing into her hand as she faced North-West… or at least the direction she thought it was… as she leaned against the stoney ledge. "Now… the story dates back before the Great Wall in Westeros was built. Our god -R'hllor- has a foe that seeks to destroy all life as we know it, whose referred to as the Great Other. Both are equal, powerful forces in their own right with the Lord of Light siding with the living... and the dead with the Other."

The coldness in the air seemed to become a bit more chilly as she spoke, causing Naruto to shiver a little. 'Is it just me or did it get colder all of a sudden?'

"Now the story behind it all had different tellings, but this is the gist of it all… as it started during the Long Night roughly eight thousand years ago." Rhae said in a grimly tone. "The entire world was covered in darkness and terror reigned supreme with the dead marching all over to slay the living. One day, R'hllor had chosen a champion -named Azor Ahai- to help slay the dead, but to do that he needed a weapon that would actually kill them. And before you ask, any other weapon would've just shattered against their enchanted weapons that turns everything to ice. Now… Azor Ahai had to create his first attempt on the weapon for thirty full days and nights, but when he dipped it into water to temper it, it shattered." She then heard Naruto snort. "Is something funny?"

"Sorry but the way he tempered it is outright bad for any blade." He then explained a bit of backing. "I've been trained as a smither and one thing I do know, you should not temper hot metal into water or else all that hard work you did would go to waste."

The blind girl nodded. "I understand that, Naruto. But you should also understand Azor Ahai didn't have the proper means of tempering metal in oil back then so that part of the story is quite understandable."

"Alright and sorry about interrupting ya."

"It's forgiven." She said with a soft smile. "Now… where was I?" She asked herself before remembering where was left off. "His second attempt in making the sword took him a full fifty days and nights before capturing a lion and plunged it into its heart to temper the blade and once again, the blade shattered."

'...Now that's just ridiculous.' He thought with a scrunched up face. 'Why the hell would he temper the blade in such a way?'

Not knowing Naruto's present thought, the blind girl continued. "On his third and final attempt, he worked on the blade for one hundred consecutive days and in the end, he plunged the sword into his loving, consenting wife's heart to temper the blade. And as this happened, her willing sacrifice powered the sword and converted it into the legendary Lightbringer."

"...Okay, I gotta say it but I'm glad that third attempt worked or else all of that would've been a waste of time... and a wife." He vigorously shook his head in a comedic fashion. "Actually, scratch that, if you really think about it-it's still pretty awful."

"Yes, indeed it is." She sighed. "Point is, his wife's soul was able to empower the blade to make it strong enough to make anything that came into contact with burst into flames. Using this weapon, Azor Ahai fended off the dead and the Great Other so everyone could be safe. But… not everything could have a happy ending as he suffered from his wounds in his final battle and wasn't able to slay his final foe. The sword became lost and the Great Other had to lick his wounds, swearing to attack the living once again when he was back at full strength."

Naruto was glad to know how this whole religion was at least based off of. But there was still one thing he was curious about. "And what's this prophecy supposed to be?"

"I would say it in High Valyrian, but I doubt you would understand it." She said with a now present smile.

"...Yeah~ You're probably right." He chuckled out before blinking. "Wait, why would you bring that out?"

"Because in the common tongue, confusion arises for those that are not really knowledgeable in the prefered language."

"Okay… so what's the prophecy?"

"The Prince or Princess that was Promised will bring the Dawn."

"...Doesn't really roll off the tongue with the princess bit."

Rhae merely giggled in response. "No, it doesn't. To which I agree." She breathed out a sigh. "Most followers of R'hllor are sometimes ignorant on that fact and go with the male savior. But in actuality, it could be either a man or a woman that would be our would be savior against the Long Night. After all, the word _Prince_ in High Valyrian is actually genderless."

Naruto nodded when hearing this as a thought came to mind. "And what's up with this prophecy anyways?"

The blind priestess responded. "It is written and said that after the long summer, the Long Night will come again. And when it comes closer and closer to this time, Azor Ahai will be reborn and complete his/her task to take down the dead and finish off the Great Other once and for all. But if he/she fails, the rest of the living shall meet its end.

There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer -the Red Sword of Heroes- and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.

And the prophecy claims that Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt in order to wake the dragons out of stone. This shall occur after a long summer when the long winter descends upon the world and the red star bleeds in the sky upon his rebirth. the Prince that was Promised will have the blood of the dragon."

Rhae soon scrunched up her face as she scratched part of her locks. "Though there seems to be more of the prophecy as I could feel it in my heart, but since I can't exactly read anymore and properly find anything that has it written down, then I can't research more into it."

"Hey, it's quite alright, Rhae. I got quite a lot of information there so I believe that's enough."

The priestess in red nodded and gave a warm smile. "Now… going back earlier when I spoke about prophecies, there's another thing to consider in which certain details about them could be misinterpreted from it's actuality."

Naruto rose a questioning brow. "Which is…"

"People always searching and dwelling further into specifics that causes confusion from the actual fact." She answered before holding up a finger. "For one detail, the One that was Promised is born amidst smoke and salt. Many would believe our hero would be born on an island or at a coastline and many would search from there. But if one could look at it in another way, our intended hero could've contracted grayscale as it's commonly contracted in said areas. Many would look over those with greyscale and search somewhere else, soon causing our downfall from being ignorant."

"Yeah… that would suck badly if that were to happen."

"Quite indeed."

"...Ya'know, you seem to reveal quite a bit of sensitive information to a guy like me."

"It's not really sensitive information at all, Naruto. Anyone could've asked for it, but are often afraid to do so."

Naruto snorted. "Figured as much."

"...So tell me, does our chat suffice for you to believe in our Lord?"

"Honestly? No, it does not." He said as he could feel her eyes on him. "It'll take much more than just a simple conversation to convince me to convert. Besides, I already have several things I believe in that might suffice."

"And what would they be?"

He mildly scratched his whiskered cheek while giving out a chuckle. "Well~ they aren't religious or anything…" 'Even though I do have my beliefs from the one back home,' came the quick thought. "But they are philosophical in nature. One being that when people are protecting something truly special to them, they truly can become as strong as they can be. And the other is the Will of Fire."

The first one made sense to the blind priestess while the other made her curious. Something told her that it possibly coincides with her Lord's teachings. "And what is this Will of Fire you speak of?" She asked.

"I… don't know all of the details for it honestly, but everyone back home is supposed to be a family unit with everyone loves, believes, cherishes and fights to protect our village with how the deceased did so before us." He scratched his blonde locks with a heavy, frustrated sigh. "Though with what I was treated in the past, I believe part of the philosophy doesn't fully work with most people." Despite the negative comment that got Rhae rather curious, Naruto briefly smiled. "But one thing that stands out is that each of us has the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building the willpower and strength of oneself."

The priestess hummed. "To my understanding, it's supposed to be symbolic of the hopes and dreams of the dead passing onto the living and so forth."

"My thoughts exactly."

"But one thing that has me curious is why you think that one philosophy doesn't fully apply to you?"

Naruto merely stood in silence as parts of his hair covered a hollowed gaze. "I'd… rather not talk about it."

Rhae could tell something possibly happened to him in his past that was hard to discuss. And as much as she wanted to pry, she decided against it. "It's quite fine."

The pair leaned against the balcony ledge in comfortable silence soon after, with the sun sinking and disappearing in the horizon. Whatever tension was present left just like the twilighted sun's rays.

Feeling more of the cold in the air, Rhae decided to go back inside. Feeling the tug against his arm, Naruto quickly got the silent message she sent as they walked back inside of the warm temple.

"So what will you do now, Naruto?"

"Eh~ Who knows. Just follow the flow or whatever."

Rhae formed a coy grin. "And here I thought you didn't want to do such a thing."

Knowing what she was referring to, he smirked. "That's with destiny and fate, Rhae." He then groaned. "But if you're talking about in the now? Well, I need to head back to the inn I'm staying at. It's getting late and the people I'm traveling with are probably wondering where I'm at… Despite me leaving a note for them."

The priestess gave an understanding nod. "Then it's been a pleasure chatting with you."

"Yeah, same here."

Getting towards the central bonfire, she gave a sad smile. "Though it's a shame it had to end so soon."

His blue eyes landed onto her blindfold as if trying to look directly into her eyes. "Why's that?"

"...I don't have that many people have… _pleasant_ conversations with." Rhae admitted. "It's all business, research or discussions about our Lord. I hardly have anything that was like what we discussed with others, asides from my mentor. Anyone else is practically non-existent."

Naruto was saddened when hearing this as he understood what she said quite well. Though a small idea crossed his mind. "I don't plan on leaving Volantis for the next few days, Rhae. Maybe… I could stop on by until I leave."

The blind priestess in red gave a warm smile upon hearing this. Happy that she might have more time interacting this young man beside her.

"I would like that." She said. "I would like that very much."

He once again gave her a fox-like grin by the time they reached the temple's entrance. "I'll be sure to come on by sometime tomorrow, I promise."

"And are you sure you'll keep it, Naruto?"

"Hell yeah!" He boasted, which got her to jump a little on the surprised action. "If there's one thing you should know is that I always keep my promises, 'ttebayo!" Once letting go of her arm, he missed the small displeased look on her face. "See ya later, Rhae!"

And before she realized it, he was gone. The blind teen didn't know how but she felt his presence suddenly left all of a sudden, along with the warmth he carried. But if Rhae still had her sight, she would've seen Naruto run off in unimaginable speeds before leaping over the temple's gates.

 _ **-Insert GoT: Lord of Light-**_

"He is quite the interesting boy," spoke a smooth, feminine voice. "Isn't he, my child?"

"Of course, my Lady." Rhae turned around and gave a massive smile at the source. She then walked forward and gave her a dear hug. "I have missed you."

"The same with you."

From what Rhae had heard of descriptions of her from her fellow worshipers and others, she was an elegant, beautiful woman who always wore the same style of dress in a brownish-red color. Her eyes were emerald green, yet they seem to be brightened as they've melded with bright ambers. Fer richly dark, copper hair glowed whenever near any natural flames. And around her neck was a choker with a ruby centerpiece.

Parting the embrace, the blind priestess greeted her savior, her mentor and mother figure of her life. "I didn't know you were coming back from Pentos so soon."

"My business arrangement there came a bit too short for my liking. So I didn't want to waste any further time before resuming my full duties at this temple."

Rhae gave a curt nod, knowing what her mentor meant.

With her being the High Priestess here in Volantis, their Lord's First Servant had many duties to uphold. One oversaw all sacred and religious duties while pleasing their beloved God. Another was supervising the scores of fellow priests and priestesses on their respective duties. And even though many of Rhae's fellow practitioners receive visions from R'hllor, they aren't exactly clear unlike her mentors; whose is much more clearer and focused.

Hooking her arm around her surrogate daughter, the High Priestess walked inside and spoke a question. "Tell me, my child, did you come across any trouble when I was away?"

"None at all."

"Are you sure? Nothing like what happened the last time I was away?"

"Once again, no."

"Shame… Would've enjoyed showing the new blood their place again when they tried harassing you. Even those that tried to bed you."

Rhae could only roll her eyes behind her blindfold. "Of course you would. But honestly, things were quite fine when you were away."

"Asides from what happened over in Meereen."

"...Well, there's that."

Last week was an interesting time at the temple with a lot of people in an uproar. Rhae heard from her fellow worshipers they had distinctive visions about a whiskered warrior combating against a Valyrian beast at Meereen's main fighting pit. When he… or she fought against the flaming monster, the person wielded both a flaming greatsword and a giant carving-knife in order to take it down.

And it was from there many speculated this person was Azor Ahai reborn.

Rhae was rather skeptic upon hearing this as her fellow priests and priestesses were merely jumping to conclusions. They could've realized this person was not their intended Savior, but possibly one of his fellow warriors to combat against the Great Other's army. But with the Long Summer drawing closer and closer to its end, people were getting desperate in finding their reincarnated Hero.

"At least people are becoming more active in their search for him… or her." Rhae stated, getting her mother figure to nod in response. "Though I worry about the resulting implications."

The High Priestess rose a questioning brow. "What do you mean?"

"Human sacrifices might become more and more frequent, for one. And some priest or priestess would become escentric like the ones that were dealt with in the past. Thus our good name would be tarnished once more."

The older woman gave a knowing nod, reminded on problems of the past. "Ah, yes. I completely understand." Wanting to change subjects, the First Servant spoke. "Well enough about that, tell me about that boy you were with."

"...You saw all that?"

"At a reasonable distance. Wanted to see how you'd do, given the lack of experience you have… without problems." The High Priestess then urged the younger woman. "Now tell me, how was he?"

Rhae formed a small smile. "He was quite nice. Better than any man who've come across our temple… that I've interacted with." She could feel the Lord's Flame of Truth nod. "Sure, he was curious about our Lord, despite not wanting to join our beliefs."

"Nothing's ever easy."

"Right. So asides from that, he shared with me some philosophies he believes in and they were quite interesting. And there's the fact he doesn't fully believe in prophecies as he wants to form his own path if life."

"And what do you think of him?"

She shrugged. "Despite me being blind, my lady, and what time we've had in our interaction, I can _see_ he's got a kindness in his heart… and his soul." Her smile lessened a little. "But there seems to be this darkness buried deep inside and I assume it's with what pain he carries with him each and every day."

"Hmm… I see." The High Priestess then smirked. "Judging by the way you're speaking about him, he's left a bit of an impression on you, didn't he?"

"I… think so… Maybe…"

"And if I've heard correctly, he plans on coming back again in the morrow, correct?"

"That he is." A curious expression was adopted onto the blind priestess' face. "Why you ask?"

Standing in front of the main firepit, the High Priestess gave her surrogate daughter a wide smile. "Enjoy what time you'll spend with him. Talk to him. Get to know him, my dear."

Judging the way she spoke stood out for Rhae. "Our Lord has interests in him, doesn't he?"

"Perhaps… Perhaps not." The smile on the First Flame's lips lessened a little. "It's hard to really say."

"If… If the Lord commands, my lady." Rhae hesitantly said, rubbing her hands together.

"If you're thinking about bedding him, don't. I feel if you try so soon, you'd only push him away."

The young priestess let out a relieved sigh upon hearing this. She had been offered the chance in becoming a temple prostitute in the past, due to her beauty, in order to help convert more to their faith. Yet she turned it down as she knew that wasn't for her.

"Thank you, I… I…"

"Now, you best head towards the kitchen, my dear." Interrupted the older woman. "I believe it's time for supper."

"Of course, Lady Kinvara. I believe it is." Said the blind priestess as she let go of the now identified Kinvara and slowly walked away from her. Making it a few feet away, she turned around slightly and spoke. "And good night to you."

"Hopefully another good night. For the night is full of terrors."

"For the night is full of terrors." Rhae responded in kind. "But the fire shall help burn it all and light our way."

Seeing her daughter in all but blood walk away from the central bonfire chamber, Kinvara looked towards the temple's entrance for where Naruto Uzumaki left earlier.

The whiskered teen was a nice boy as he seemed to have this sort of fire inside of him that possibly drawn others towards him, whether it be for good or bad intentions. And during what time Kinvara saw of them together, it appears that her surrogate daughter unknowingly hopes of seeking out some sort of friendship with him.

Which was good since the blind priestess hardly has any friends, only work acquaintances… as it were.

Now… Kinvara partially told Rhae the truth about her time in Pentos being cut short. It was not because of actual business, but in actuality a vision from her Lord. _He_ showed her of not only the whiskered teen's battle back in Meereen, but of what occured in Old Valyria… in fragments, that is. Her Lord's Light of Wisdom only knew so much, but got a general idea on what was going on.

As much as she wanted to proclaim the Uzumaki as Azor Ahai reborn -like many of her fellow priests and priestesses- Kinvara didn't want to jump to conclusions that easily. Some of the facts were there like Naruto wielding a sword coated in flames. But the sword he held was not _The_ fabled blade as Lightbringer glowed a pure, white light.

Yet the sword Naruto wielded felt _older_ than that of Lightbringer, despite it being forged during the age of Old Valyria… And it felt connected to something _greater_.

But there was more to what her Lord initially wanted to show her. So she dwelled deep into the fire in order to see more as to what got her Lord's interest.

...What she saw… was hard to process and understand…

A crying babe with features similar to Naruto's having blood and tears landed upon him. The source of the blood and tears came from people who she felt were no doubt his parents, dying from impalement by a beast that was greater than anything she'd ever seen. And it was done all under an enlarged blood full moon with fire and smoke coating the reddish sky.

Before she could see anything else, the giant fox-like beast turned its attention towards her… _somehow…_ and pushed her away from the vision with a massive roar that would no doubt rupture her ears if it was there _personally_ right in front of her.

If that wasn't confusing enough, the scene shifted to that of a ruined, moonlit city. Fog blanketed most of its sky with smoke rising from most of its buildings. What inhabitants resided within it's blood covered boundaries were crazed and rabid. And each and every one of them were taken down by some sort of _hunter_ as he or she was bathed in their blood… before it's eyes landed upon her.

Things shifted once more as the darkened landscape was replaced with that of that of a massive graveyard, filled with weapons serving as tombstones. A solar eclipse bled an orange light as it trailed towards the horizon.

And in the center of it all was a coiled sword, pierced into a bonfire… with a knight kneeling before it with a stretched hand as a flame linked them together.

Shifting her gaze from the temple's entrance, she looked towards the central fire where everyone prayed towards. The flames were bright and warm, all distracting enough to hide something _inside_ the flame. If one were to truly focus on it, they'd see the same coiled sword she saw in her vision… before she was forced to end it due to her crying blood.

'What are you, Naruto Uzumaki?' Kinvara thought, breaking her gaze from the flame before making her way towards her chambers. 'Why has our Lord's attention been set upon you?'

 _ **-River Rhoyne, Night-**_

"Of course they'd fuck themselves to sleep." Naruto groaned out as he rubbed his eyes, thinking on events from earlier. "Should've realized that by now."

After getting back to the inn, Naruto expected to see Oberyn and Ellaria up and about while having dinner while questioning where he went. Yet they weren't in the inn's dining area. And upon checking up on them in their rented room, he saw the little… _party_ were dead asleep with the rank air of sex wafting in the space with a cart semi-full of food nearby.

Seeing as the Dornish couple wouldn't leave the room until the morning, Naruto made a quick grab of food before heading off once more.

Like earlier, the Uzumaki didn't have any real destination in mind. A part of him wanted to go back to his rented room and go to bed since Oberyn and Ellaria were no longer having their fun, finally granting him the sleep he wanted. Yet another was curious as to what Volantis' night life was like, wondering how it compared to Konoha's.

Guess which one won over…

And so far things weren't all that different… Then again, he was on the poorer side of the Free City and hasn't seen the richer side once the sun setted. He would probably get the chance tomorrow as the idea of infiltrating the Black Wall earlier today still wafted in his mind. But he still needed to discuss things further with the perverted viper on what to exactly do there.

"Can't go in blind like what I did back at the temple." He muttered to himself. "Yet I didn't get the chance to _really_ explore there." A thoughtful look came soon after. "But since I plan on seeing Rhae tomorrow, I might get the chance… And I wonder if I'd run into Talisa while I'm behind the Black Wall since that's where most of the nobles reside?" The shinobi soon shook his head. "Scratch that, I shouldn't do that. Makes me think I'm some sort of stalker or something."

Unbeknownst to him -back in Konoha- a certain, shy bluenette heavily sneezed… Along with an ambitious Master of Coin following the same action at the Westerosi capital.

Currently, Naruto was walking on top of the river's surface in order to avoid confrontations from any civilian, slave or security alike that were to pass by. Yet it didn't matter that despite the moonlight shining down from the partially clear skies above, no one would've noticed him anyways. The Volantene would've been too preoccupied with themselves or wouldn't bother checking the river's center.

If they did, then the shinobi would've bolted in order to have them lose sight of him.

Looking up towards the starry sky, Naruto briefly wondered how long he'd been taking this stroll of his. He doesn't exactly have a watch on hand and he wasn't all that knowledgeable in telling time once the sun was down.

...Well he could have if he paid attention to _that_ specific lesson back at the academy.

Thinking on that now, he wondered how everyone was back home. It wasn't the first time he thought about them and will surely not be the last.

Are Ayame and Tenchi doing fine without knowing his whereabouts? Is Tenten doing well without him helping at her family's smithy? Is Ino taking care of his little garden at his apartment? Has Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, Choji, Shikamaru and Lee survived their encounters against the Sound Four- no, Five? What about Hinata worrying about both him and her cousin?

...And what of Sakura? Would she forgive him for killing Sasuke? After all, he did promise her to get him back home, but the heat of battle tends to sway the meaning one way or another. Naruto couldn't afford to hold back as the Teme wanted to kill him and the Uzumaki obviously didn't want that to happen.

'She probably hates me.' He sadly thought. 'Despite him giving her the cold shoulder and defecting to that Pedo-Snake, Orochimaru, Sakura still had feelings for him.'

The truth hurts both ways, no matter how one softens the blow. And with this case, it hurt worse with him seeking her affections, yet hardly got any at all.

"Hope Granny Tsunade, Shizune and Ino can help her out without me there." He muttered out, before looking towards the river's surface once giving out a sigh. The physical reaction got him to notice something shining along the water… and moving against the slow current. "What do we have here?"

Following his curiosity, Naruto decided to investigate. Walking closer and closer to it, he eventually made out an animal's figure due to the moonlight helping out. He momentarily thought it was drowned and dead, but it was actually alive and swimming. The identity of the creature was soon revealed as it's head poked out of its surface in order to receive air into its lungs before slowly walking towards the shore.

"Huh, a turtle." Naruto then scratched his head. "Hardly see of these guys."

He'd only personally seen a few turtles in life while all he knew about them were from books and from Kiba, due to him having to work part-time at his family's veterinary office. And the last time he saw a turtle was being Might Guy's summon when he first met the green spandex wearing man before the first test of the Chunin exams.

The turtle… tortoise… -hard to really differentiate them like crocodiles and alligators- back then was rather large to be half his height while at least twice his width. And this was all due to its shell, which made up half of it's full body. And the creature that was before Naruto at the current time was as long as his head towards his pelvis, in terms of length, while it's width was like his.

Coming up for a closer examination, the Uzumaki momentarily saw the shiny object imbedded into the turtle's shell. But that was overwhelmed upon seeing all the barnacle across both its shell and most of its flesh.

He remembered Kiba having to bail out from a pranking day -back in the academy days- due to him having to spend a good part of the day cleaning up a turtle that was brought into the vet. Kiba said that barnicle on a turtle was considered an illness -his words, not a professionals- which needed to be taken care of. It was due to the stuff somewhat being like a parasite, imbedding themselves into the turtle/tortoise shells and sensitive parts of it's flesh. And this causes a lot of discomfort for the creature as it might have a hard time breathing and seeing properly.

Feeling bad for the creature, Naruto walked up to it and kneeled down. "Hey there." The turtle looked up, but didn't much respond. "I don't know if ya noticed, but you've got quite a lot of barnacle on ya." The Uzumaki then pulled out a kunai from his hip pouch. "I'm gonna help ya out and get rid of that stuff."

Before he could do so, Naruto went off to the side and looked for something edible for the turtle to dine on. It wasn't long as he brought back quite a lot of edible looking plants and prayed to Kami they wouldn't be bad at all.

Dropping them in front of the turtle, the sea creature didn't move at all. Naruto quirked his head as to why it's not going right in and eat. But he figured the turtle was either cautious or very slow to act.

'Most likely both.' He thought before crouching down and picking up one of the plants.

Being sure he was in the turtle's line of sight, the whiskered blonde put the plant into his mouth and crewed. The taste was odd as it was neither dressed in any sauce or cooked, like what veggies he ate in the past. Pushing that aside, he continued eating it before swallowing the planty mush.

Seeing the human eat the plant and turning out got the turtle to bend its neck down enough to slowly start eating.

With the mild task accomplished, Naruto made an extra clone in order to help out on the cleaning process. Each wielded a kunai and coated the blades in a thin layer of chakra to make this easier. But despite this being so, neither needed to be reckless or else the turtle will get really hurt.

The first to go was the bannicle on the shell as the most resided there. It was quite the annoying process to cut them out as some were rather thick and others dug into the hard shell. With everything that was picked off, they were tossed aside into a small pile; even the shiny object that caught his eye earlier.

And once the top part was cleaned off, the bottom was next.

The clone carefully flipped the turtle over while not startling it. Like before, the process the pair had the same form of difficulty. Yet what came after would be the most challenging as the flesh had to be taken care of.

Naruto took a pair of legs while his clone took the other. The soles of the turtle's feet were quite sensitive as it mildly squirmed in their grasp. Little blood was drawn, due to the little buggers digging themselves into the flesh. And with the four limbs eventually done, the turtle was flipped back right-side up.

"You're doing good there buddy." Said the Uzumaki as he patted it's head. "Just a little longer and you're good as new."

The tail was surprisingly easier as there only a few small barnacle to get rid of. The head and neck though were a different story as they were riddled with them. The human and chakra construct made delicate work in ridding the turtle of its ordeal. The nostrils and areas around the eyes were a little tricky with blood being drawn soon after. The sea creature gave off a displeasing sound, due to the recent bits of pain it felt. But they were temporary as Naruto and his clone had to help wash the cuts.

And after what felt like forever, the barnacle cleaning process was done.

"Gotta say but you're one of the easier animal themed jobs I ever worked on." Naruto stated as he dispelled his clone. "Now I don't know if there are a few more of those guys hiding somewhere else on ya, so sorry in advance."

The turtle merely nodded, greatly appreciating the human's work in helping it out. It hardly felt any more pain from the sea parasites that once clung onto its body.

Naruto smiled, seeing the turtle in its current state as it seemed to eat a little quicker than before. Moving away from the animal, Naruto would've moved elsewhere before heading back to the inn for the night. Yet he remembered the shiny object he plucked off the turtle's shell earlier.

Going towards the barnacle pile, Naruto crouched and brushed them aside before finding the shiny object that caught his eye earlier. He saw there was some sort of gem in the object, but couldn't make out the rest of it, due to how dirty it was. Making his way back towards the Rhyone's water, Naruto washed and scrubbed away the filth to see what the item exactly was.

It was some sort of medallion or what he assumed to be one due to the lack of a chain in the little, closed hoop on top. It was primarily a silver, circular disk with five little fin-like objects poking out of the sides. And on the disk was some sort of swirl-like design with either a turquoise or aquamarine gem set in the middle.

'Hard to tell what it is because of the lighting.' Naruto thought through his inspection. Flipping the medallion over, the Uzumaki scratched his chin. 'Also can't make out the lettering and other designs as they must've faded from Kami-knows how long in the water… or whatever. And all I can tell is that this is supposed to look like a turtle.'

Being tired now and having nothing else to do, Naruto decided it was time to head on back and get some rest. Pocketing the medallion, the Uzumaki channeled chakra into his feet and ran across the river's length to make it back to the Volantis port in order to get to the inn quickly. There would be plenty to do in the next day or so before sailing towards Dorne.

 _ **-End Chapter-**_

 **AN:**

 **Work… and the Thanksgiving weekend… have not been great as of late. With the former, one person had to quit due to health concerns while two people were no longer showing up thus causing more work for everyone. As for the holiday weekend, could not be on my laptop all that much as I've been with my family and certain issues occurred during said time that I don't wanna get into.**

 **Dealing with this chapter was a bit of a challenge as doing OC chapters are not really my forte. Working my head rather hard to hopefully get things to work with what I had in mind here while including more details for the story as a whole. Incorporating certain elements that I hope does well for later events.**

 **Now some people asked if I was going to return Gerion's corpse and Brightroar back to the Lannisters. I have planned this, even back in the old version. But thing was I needed Naruto a better motivation than just moving right to the Westerlands or Kings Landing.**

 **Of course, I already planned on Naruto going to either location later in the story… after certain meetings and a particular invite to come up past Dorne's borders.**

 **Now for some unfortunate news…**

 **On November 18th, the life that was Stan 'The Man' Lee has come to an end. He had lived a good life, yet struggled in his later years in several ways. But despite all this, he still kept making us happy. So for the man that helped bring Marvel comics to fruition, I wish you a well deserved rest while you return to your loving wife up above.**

 **Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!**

 **R &R**


	5. Volantis Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, SoulsBorne or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

 _Writing/Singing_

 _"Foreign Language/Flashback"_

 _ **-Scene Shift-**_

 **Chapter 5: Volantis Part 2**

The morning air is one of the things people wake up to as it might be a determining factor if it'll start out alright or not. It's a small detail that many sometimes overlook, but it's a factor nonetheless. Yet this doesn't determine if the rest of the day goes well as other details always come into play that changes the whole thing around.

Smelling something rank make things unpleasant upon first breath. Smelling something sweet and pleasant will make things rather nice. Or nothing at all is fine as well.

In the current case, it was a mix of both for Oberyn and Ellaria respectively.

Blurly waking up from the entanglement of limbs, the Red Viper inhaled the morning air before coughing a few times to clear out his lungs a little. The bitter scent of sex wafted in the bedroom due to the little orgy that took place in here. Each person's essence was dried up onto the sheets and onto themselves in several areas.

'At least it isn't shit.' Oberyn thought with a shudder. 'Dealt with that once and I never wanna deal with that again.'

Carefully lifting the limbs off of him, he crawled his way off the bed before stretching some of his own in order to pop out some kinks and numbness. With that out of the way, the prince needed to use the chamber pot in order to properly relieve himself. Along the way, his eyes landed on the nearly empty cart of food and drink.

'Drink will be fine, but food is another matter.' Came the thought before entering the privy.

Depending on the food in question, it can be fine being left out overnight as it'll be fine to consume in the morning. But one needs to account for what kind of cooked food it is as most become spoiled if not eaten or properly stored away for later use.

'Should've known not to order so much.' Oberyn berated himself as he emptied both his bowels and bladder. 'With the amount of us in the room, we could've ate it all. Yet it seems we didn't .'

What's done was done and can't do a thing about it. What Oberyn can do was to inform the inn servants to draw up a bath for the room's current occupants. Along with taking the cart with what spoiled food remained away. Not to mention changing the bed sheets.

Once everything was emptied, Oberyn briefly cleaned his bottom and hands before grabbing a robe of his. With it tightly wrapped around his naked form, the Dornish prince exited his rented room and made his way downstairs. Didn't take long for him to reach the front desk and give the worker his requests.

"Of course, milord. We'll get a bath ready for you and your companions soon enough." Spoke the inn's receptionist. "If you'd be fine with breaking your fast right now, either me or another will let you know when it's ready."

Oberyn gave his thanks and made his way towards the dining area to grab something to eat. When getting there, he saw the familiar messy mop of golden hair at a nearby table. And the Uzumaki in question was already partaking his morning meal.

As he walked closer, he heard Naruto speak without having to look at him. "Hope you had a good night's sleep, Oby-San."

"That I did." Oberyn said without missing a beat as he sat down in front of his young companion. "How'd you know it was me, anyways?"

"You reek of sex, for one." Came the answer. "In case you forgot, I used to live near a 'pleasure house' which sadly got me knowledgeable on he smell. And traveling with you and Ella-san gave me a reminder." Naruto took a bite out of a thick piece of bacon. "At least it's better than waking up in a pig or dog pen."

"I take it you have experience." Stated the Viper.

"Handful of times with one being because of a prank war with an academy friend."

"And others?"

"Not by choice."

"...Sorry to hear that."

Naruto waved off Oberyn. "Meh~ It's fine. Just made me more cautious on certain occasions."

The Dornishman was a bit curious on what Naruto got himself into to end up in such moments; along with feeling there was more to what he said. Yet the Viper's mind slowly drifted to memories of his early years of traveling the world. Getting into tavern fights, only to wake up in animal pens or in alleys as he was knocked out halfway through. He was surprised he didn't die during any of those times, but thanked his lucky stars that he lived. It drove him a bit more to become a better fighter so he won't end up in those situations ever again.

"So what do you plan on doing today, Oby-san?"

Oberyn snapped out of his recent thoughts before making a quick one pertaining Naruto's question. "Need to finish preparations for our departure to Dorne tomorrow. Yesterday, everyone was having their leisurely time to unwind. But now we must get into business in purchasing enough goods and provisions to last us till getting home."

"Which will take up some time." Naruto said as a serving girl came over and dropped a plate of food in front of Oberyn while switching out the empty pitcher of drink.

"Hopefully less if my men got a good number of things done accordingly and on time." Said the prince, pouring himself a cup. Taking a drink to quench his throat, he eyed the serving girl's ass as she walked away. "Especially getting our added members to comply instead of running off and delaying things."

Naruto merely nodded. "So I believe you're more into business _after_ pleasure, then."

"Why of course." Oberyn chuckled out. "It sometimes helps in many of my past experiences as I unwind in order to have a clearer head before getting down to business."

"Sometimes that's called procrastinating."

"Eeeehh~ so you say." Oberyn said before taking a bite out of a pastry. Washing down the bit of food in his mouth -due to how crumbly it was- he added in a little fact. "Don't tell me you had similar moments like I have."

"I have. I mean who hasn't." Naruto answered, earning a cheeky smirk in return. "When at the academy, I had been messing around while not doing my assignments at all. Got in trouble because of it, but I didn't care on what most of my teachers said as a result." He stabbed a sausage from his plate and took a bite out of it before swallowing. "That changed when I started training and working at the local smithing shop."

Oberyn blinked. "I remember you telling me about that when we were at Old Valyria." The Uzumaki gave a brief nod. "How'd that start you no longer procrastinating?"

"My friend's grandfather." The Konoha shinobi slowly took a sip of his ale -which was still odd for him to partake at this point, along with wine- before explaining. "He's a gruff, standoffish, rude bastard that I argued against the guy way too often when it came to my work. Practically beat my laziness and most of my procrastinating habits out of me."

"...Sounds like a colorful person."

"Yeah~ but he meant well." Naruto swirled his cup and stared into its contents. "Despite his grumpy-as-hell exterior, he was actually a kind hearted, moralistic man. He grew up during times of conflict -especially wars- so it made him act such a way out of reflex. And he tried to better himself once settling down in Konoha, but that hardly worked from what I was told."

"I can understand that quite well, Naruto." Sighed the Viper before chewing a little on some cooked eggs. "Met many men throughout my travels that were like what you described. Life roughing them too much that they'd wear it like armor while their true natures are hidden deep."

Naruto nodded as the two ate in silence.

Almost eating up the rest of his plate, Oberyn spoke the same question Naruto asked him earlier. "And what are you going to do today?"

Washing down the rest of his food, the Konoha shinobi answered. "Probably do some exploring around the city and see what else I could buy or look into."

This wasn't entirely the truth as Naruto wanted to keep up his promise with Rhae over at the Red Temple. Since he was going to leave Volantis tomorrow, he was gonna do a lot with her if he had something to do about it. Problem was he didn't know what to exactly do with her at the current time.

'Then again, I'll ask what she'd like to do anyways.'

"And are you still thinking about sneaking past the Black Wall?" Oberyn asked, not knowing his young friend's present thought.

Naruto blinked. "Almost forgot about that." He then pondered about it. "I could send a clone to scout the area out and tonight I'd do… whatever comes to mind."

"Seeing what's actually over there, pranking and anything of the like." Stated the Viper.

The shinobi chuckled. "Basically, yeah. Just… don't really have any other motivation in doing so."

"What about getting back at some of the slavers?"

"...That could work."

Oberyn formed a smirk, knowing how much Naruto hates slavers. "Well before you go over there, I should let you know a handful of things I do know are over there." Before he could do so, an inn worker came up to the Dornish prince and informed him of the bath being ready for both him and the party in his rented room. Giving a brief nod, Oberyn turned his attention back to Naruto. "Change of plans then. Before you go to the Black Wall tonight, I'll inform you what I do know over there. Things might've changed over there since I've been there last, but whatever surveying you'd do with that clone of yours could maybe update some information."

Naruto nodded as Oberyn left the table, making his way towards where his bath was prepared.

As he was finishing his second plate, the Uzumaki pulled out the medallion he found last night and rubbed his thumb over most of its surface. 'Maybe while I'm out and about today, I could find out what this is.' He thought before putting the object back into his pocket. 'Not to mention get a chain for it.'

Getting up from his seat, he drank the rest of his cup's contents before making his way towards his rented room in order to finish getting ready for the day.

 _ **-Red Temple of R'hllor-**_

Carefully walking through the halls, Rhae ran her fingers across the stone walls where faint indents were made as they helped guide her way towards her living quarters. It's unnoticeable at first or second glance, but upon closer inspection it's quite mistakable for them being the creases between stone block.

Ever since living at the temple, the blind woman had a hard time navigating her home. Always taking careful steps to being sensitive on her sense of touch in hopes of properly traversing her God's structure without incident. And by tracing her hand over the same spots over the years eventually made a rough, mental map of the temple in order to walk around the corridors without much problems and assistance from others.

Breaking her fast was a decent time for her. Well more like partaking any food and drink in general. Due to her blindness, her other senses heightened considerably. She could enjoy certain tastes a whole lot more while a downside made her have to bitterly swallow pertaining items one wouldn't really notice unless focusing all that much.

And this also pertained to her sense of touch, smell and sound.

Because of this, Rhae had requested Lady Kinvara years ago to have her living quarters be far away from the pleasure rooms. She did not want to hear the constant screams, yells, moans and smells coming from them.

Thus she takes a longer time to get back to her room after her morning meal.

Entering her chambers and locking the door, Rhae sighed before making her way towards her washroom to continue her morning rituals. She had prepared her morning bath earlier before going to the dining hall. Upon getting back, the waters would've been her desired heat instead of scolding hot like some incidents in the past when making her own baths for the first time. With how sensitive her touch was, the blind priestess had to be careful on her preparation process.

Undressing her simple gown off her body to reveal her naked glory, she soon took off the wrap around her eyes and placed it to the side. Getting to her tub, Rhae placed her hands onto the metal surface and would've climbed in but paused in her action when feeling the abnormal heat upon her bare palms.

In the past, she would've instantly pulled back from how hot the metal was. But for about two weeks now, Rhae couldn't feel the scolding sting of both the water and metal. It made her very confused as to how and why this exactly happened. Either being tolerant to such heat… or something else.

Pushing this thought aside once more, she got into the tub and let out a pleasant sigh. Rhae always enjoyed this. Only partaking this moment every couple of days as to not make it all that bland if doing it too often. Either in the day or at the evening after a meal. And when she does, the blind priestess feels at bliss.

'I often wonder if this like a mere fraction of sex.' Rhae wondered as she grabbed a rag and slowly scrubbed herself. 'Probably shouldn't think such things.'

Taking her time in the cleaning process, the priestess carefully went over her face where her burn resided. The scar tissue around her eyes was mostly gone as years passed. What remained was a slightly darker color with her eyebrows growing back. But the real damage was towards her eyes as the color in them were clouded, due to the burn she suffered as a toddler.

As she cleaned herself, Rhae mentally went over her what tasks she'll need to perform today. 'I believe I need to help clean the chapel today, so that'll take a while. Asides from that, I need to ask Lady Kinvara what else to do.'

The priestess then paused as she soon remembered the events of last night. She accompanied a boy that sounded a couple years younger than her. The conversation they had was quite pleasant and at its end, Naruto promised he'd come back to the temple sometime today… and spend time with her.

Even though it could've been a passing thing, the coming experience made her feel a tad excited.

Rhae never really had any friends at the temple, only work acquaintances. And the only person she was really close to was her mother figure/mentor. Most belittled her due to her blindness as she couldn't perform her priestess duties to the fullest of their capabilities. Others were neutral, only working alongside her to get through the day. And some tried to be nice to her, but it was all because they wanted to increase their standing at the temple with her being Kinvara's _daughter_.

That or trying to bed her.

She'd been told time and time again that she was quite the rare, unique beauty. Rhae wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world as many could attest to that. People guessed that it was due to what heritage she had which created such a woman. But it was with how she acted and her personality that could make up the difference in her appearance.

And many believed that if they saw the rest of her face could give the final verdict.

Going back to Naruto, she wondered what he would do with her while he's still here in Volantis. Rhae remembered him being kind and warm while in his presence. He surely wouldn't do anything bad to her, right?

After all, being trained under Lady Kinvara for practically all her life got her to often _see_ one's hidden agendas when talking to them. But with the young man she was with last night made it rather hard to notice any at all. Unless-

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Rhae came out of her thoughts upon hearing rasping on her chamber door. 'Who could that be?' She thought with a sigh. 'Wished I could've enjoyed my bath a bit longer. I didn't even get the chance to wash my hair.' Getting out of the tub, she heard the rasping on the entrance to her quarters continue. "Give me a moment, please! I'm coming!"

Getting near the entrance of her washroom, Rhae grabbed a robe to cover up her modesty. Walking out, she wore the article of clothing while briefly patting herself a little to take care of her wet skin.

Depending on what/who was on the other side of her chamber door would decide if she would go back to her bath or take care of things accordingly.

Before she unlocked the door, Rhae spoke up so the person on the other side could hear her. "Yes? Who is it?"

"Hey, Rhae. It's me, Naruto."

…..

…..

…..

"Hello?"

The priestess was a little flustered upon hearing Naruto's voice behind the door. She quickly composed herself before unlocking the door and grasping the handle. Rhae opened it and _looked_ at the young man that's been on her mind recently. Even though she couldn't see him, the priestess felt that he gave her a brief wave with his scarf around his neck; which partially covered up his whiskered cheeks.

"How'd you know where my quarter's were?"

Naruto gave a shrug. "When I got here, I asked this one priestess and she was kind enough to let me in and give me directions."

Rhae blinked. "And… do you know who she is?"

"She didn't say." Naruto soon noticed her current state and gave a small cringe-like reaction as her blind eyes seemingly went towards his blue eyes. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"Not… entirely. I was taking a bath when you came."

"Sorry, Rhae. If I had known-"

"But you didn't and I can't really fault you for that."

"Hey… so… can I come in?" The Uzumaki scratched his head with his eyes wandering side to side. "I mean it wouldn't be great if… well…"

Rhae soon got the idea on what Naruto was implying. He was worried on someone passing by and seeing her dripping wet underneath her robe. In his mind, this could be a rather embarrassing moment for her with other priests and priestesses gossiping or something of that nature.

The corner of her lip twitched upward. 'How considerate of him.' She stepped back and ushered him into her chamber.

Naruto smiled a little and walked inside of Rhae's living quarters before she closed the door behind him. As she locked it, the shinobi quickly inspected the space and saw how spartan it was from what he saw so far. Sure, there was the simplicity and basic necessities in terms of furniture, but there wasn't anything that seemed extravagant or eye pleasing; not even a single candle.

Then again with Rhae being blind, why would she need such things.

"You had me at a surprised disadvantage, Naruto." Spoke the blind priestess as she walked towards the other side of her chambers. Naruto's eyes followed her before she opened up a closet door which was big enough to hide her form. "If I were to know you would've come this early, I could've finished preparations for today much sooner."

Naruto was about to speak until he heard a soft *thud* hitting the ground. Looking at the spot, he saw Rhae's crumbled robe there. Widening his eyes a little, he quickly turned around so he wouldn't see her drying off and changing.

With a small blush across his face, his eyes wandered everywhere else as he responded back to her. "Sorry about that, Rhae. I should've told ya last night when I'd show up."

"All is forgiven." She said as she used a towel to quickly dry off her back before her arms. "Though now I'm going to wonder what I'm doing with my plans now."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Don't know if I'd be able to properly set certain chores and tasks aside here at the temple in order to entertain you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and cringed once more. "Yeah… should've thought about that as well and taken it into consideration. But you shouldn't put them aside, Rhae."

"I know, but what should be done exactly?" She questioned, patting down parts of her hair that was wet.

Adopting a thinking pose, Naruto went through his options.

For one, he could stick around and maybe help her out with her chores. He could be fine with relieving some of her workload. Buuuuut~ staying at a place that gave him the creeps for so long might change things.

It wasn't exactly the temple, but the conglomerate of the R'hllor followers.

Upon learning yesterday of them searching for the 'whiskered warrior', he might get spotted one way or another and his scarf could only help hide things for so long. Naruto did not want to get harrassed because of this and might sour things with Rhae as a result. And he could possibly henge into someone residing here or just his attire to help the blind priestess out. Yet some questions could arise if people point out certain issues like seeing the same priest/priestess within same area to constant questioning on who he is with the simple disguise.

And the second option he had called back to his years in the academy; before his smithing teacher beat _most_ of his laziness and procrastination out of him.

"...you alright, Naruto?"

"Huh?"

"I said, are you alright?" Rhae sounded off from behind him. "You've been quite for a while."

Naruto blinked and turned his head a little to see if she wasn't naked. Thankfully she wasn't as she was completely dressed, wearing a similar outfit he saw her in last night. Difference was the simplicity of it from what bit of extravagant design he saw of it. Not just that, but there was no shawl draped around her shoulders and the color was just straight up brown instead of having some bits of red. And of course was the cloth wrapped around the top portion of her face to cover up her blind eyes.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well~ I was thinking we could go out of the temple and do… something."

Rhae quirked her head. "Did I hear you right? You wish for us both to go outside of the temple?"

"Yeup."

"But… I have chores and tasks to do here today."

"Do you have to do them now?"

"...Not exactly."

"And what would you do after they're done?"

"Tend to the fires and pray." Rhae answered.

"Really? For how long?"

"For as long as I feel comfortable with."

"...Sounds reeeeeeal boring." Naruto could practically feel her giving him a deadpan stare from behind her wraps, with hints of her being offended. "Sorry, but just praying for Kami knows how long would be rather tiresome… Well, for me that is."

The priestess shook her head a little. "I probably could tell."

"Anyways, being cooped up here for so long must drive ya crazy at times, right?" Naruto received no answer from her. "So wouldn't you like to go outside and experience something out of the usual than what you're so used to?"

Rhae merely stood there, pondering on the idea. "I don't know…"

"Put it this way. You can come with me and we can do whatever ya want outside of this temple. And we could do it until ya feel it's time to get back so you can do your chores."

With the offer made, the blind woman pondered and pondered for several moments. Naruto did make a bit of a good argument that she didn't need to do her tasks right away. It was just a habit she'd done over the years and it would be a bit hard for her to change, much less stop.

But Lady Kinvara did suggest her last night to spend time with him. So…

"Alright." This earned a smile from the Uzumaki. "But like you said, we'll do whatever _I_ want." Rhae coyly stated as she walked over to the dresser next to her bed.

"Eh~ Whatever helps clear your head from being in this temple, Rhae."

Naruto then stood there, seeing her pull out a shieved knife from one of the drawers. She then kneeled down and parted some of her lower attire in order to strap it onto her leg.

'Must be for some protective insurance.' He figured as she fastened the weapon onto herself all nice and secure. 'Probably because she doesn't know I can easily protect her or just a precaution.' The blonde gave a brief nod. 'That's smart of her.'

Standing back up, the blind priestess then walked over as she gave a soft smile. "Alright, Naruto. I'm ready to go."

"Great~"

"But before we do, I must find and speak with the High Priestess so she wouldn't worry where I've wandered off to. Along with you being my escort."

Naruto gave an understanding nod as she took his arm with his own before exiting her chambers.

 _ **-Later, On the Streets-**_

" _...Lord, cast your light upon us."_ Rhae spoke in Valyrian as she stood at an elevated section of the road. Surrounding her were many Volantene hearing the blind priestess' sermon. _"For the night is dark and full of terrors."_

" _For the night is dark and full of terrors."_ Repeated the masses in a somewhat high volume, due to the commotion happening around them.

" _I was lost and afraid, due to no longer able to see."_ The priestess then placed her fingertips onto the wraps around her eyes. _"Because of this, I didn't know what happened all around me when I was just a small child. But he saved me and I repay him in serving him…"_

Sitting at a table not far away from the sermon, Naruto was mildly paying attention to Rhae's speech as he was a bit more focused on the surrounding area.

'Wish I knew what she was saying.' He thought with a small frown. 'It's supposed to be… Valyrian, but don't know what branch it is.' A small groan escaped his lips. 'Gonna need to start studying up on the books I bought yesterday to understand the languages, but I won't know them all right away.'

Putting this thought aside, Naruto's eyes continually scanned the area with them briefly glancing at the rooftops. There he saw a few of his clones perched on the rooftops to help give him additional vantage points.

Meeting Rhae's mentor and mother figure, High Priestess Kinvara, earlier today -who was the one who directed him to Rhae's room earlier- was a nice little experience. She was very patient when listening to his request in taking Rhae out of the temple and putting her normal tasks on hold until her return. And the High Priestess was strangely quick in accepting it and things would've gone along smoothly… as long as Naruto kept a close eye and protected her surrogate daughter.

On the rare times Rhae left the temple of their Lord, the blind teen was given an escort of varied numbers. With her being blind, she needs special services like being accommodated with either another priest/priestess or a few fiery hand soldiers. On the later portion, Naruto questioned why such force was needed.

But it was soon answered with the fact being Rhae rather beautiful and desirable to many lustful men; to which the Uzumaki quickly understood the implications and left it at that.

As much as he'd not want to make deals with religious folks, Naruto made an exception this time. Wanting to spend time with the blind teen and make her happy on what time he had left in Volantis made him put that fact aside… even with what negative stuff he heard about them.

On his way leaving the temple and it's grounds, Naruto could feel Kinvara's lingering gaze on him. It wasn't out of malice, fear or anything bad like what he'd dealt with-with many of the villagers back home. The one being given by the High Priestess was out of curiosity, interest, and other feelings which felt oddly foreign to him and hard to describe.

But it was somewhat discomforting if he could summarize it.

When on the streets, Naruto briefly hoped Rhae would have enjoyed the area and momentarily forgot her lack of sight. So he took it upon himself to describe everything he could but there was only so much to do so verbally. And he tried to take her out shopping, but Rhae had no interests as she only shopped for the necessities; which she didn't need at the current time. But she greatly appreciated Naruto's thought and gestures in hopes of making their time together enjoyable.

This soon lead to the current moment on what Rhae wanted to do outside of the temple walls: giving a sermon.

The blind woman felt she was cutting out of her work, despite having Kinvara's permission on delaying her home tasks until later today or just doing them the next day. To make up for this, Rhae decided to perform some of her priestess duties to the Volantene populous.

Seeing as his clones can overwatch the area without him, Naruto took his attention away and placed it elsewhere. Quickly unsealing the ancient tome he acquired from Valyria, the shinobi opened up to where he left off yesterday and started to read.

 _The sounds of water splashed in a darkened, fog filled landscape. What light there was-was very minimal at best as a knight carried a lit torch along his watery path. The water seeped into parts of his knightly armor he brought with him for this journey of his. All in order to help liberate a land in desperate need of salvation._

 _The journey getting there was long and strenuous, despite it being quite simple of an act. Yet he'd spent so much time in the Deep Fog that he didn't know if he'd ever escape it._

 _"Brave soul, who fears not death. I shall guide you." Called out a woman's voice from everywhere yet nowhere, startling him in his step. It was hard to pinpoint the source of the new sound given to his senses._

" _Why doest thou wish to help me?" Questioned the adventurer._

" _So that you may lull the Old One back to slumber."_

 _The man blinked behind his helm and wondered how this person will do such a thing. Yet before he could voice his question, a bright light appeared several feet away. He closed his eyes and turned his head away in order to not become blinded by it. Yet his attempts were for naught as the source became brighter and brighter till everything was consumed around him._

 _Next thing the knight knew was him being face first into water as it filled up his helmet._

 _The adventurer bolted from his spot and coughed in order to expel what liquid there was from his mouth. It tasted rather foul and he'll need to give it a proper wash when he got the chance. And once calming himself down, the knight looked towards his surroundings and saw some light just ahead of him._

 _Looking towards his feet, the man grasped his now damp torch stick and put it away as it was useless until a later time. Trekking forward, the man eventually realized where he ended up at: a sewer._

' _No wonder the water was horrid.' The adventurous night thought in disgust._

 _Exiting the sewer granted him the sight as to where he ended up at, being that of a castle's courtyard or something similar to that nature. It was a bit of a refreshing sight to behold in comparison to the Deep Fog._

 _The man decided to do a little exploration, while being on guard as he was in unfamiliar territory. And he was glad as he did as he was assaulted by several people along the area. He would've tried to knock them out -or at least give them minimal and surviving injuries- but there was an unearthly look upon their eyes that made the knight think they were beyond saving. And with much regret, he was forced to slay them each and every time._

' _Has Boletaria become so desolate that it's residents have become such a manner?' He questioned as he looted the latest corpse of some healing herbs. The knight shook his head. 'No, I can't believe so. Some people must be at least sane and hiding somewhere for refuge.'_

 _Traversing through the castle's keep, the adventurer made his way inside and saw the early ruined state it was in. It was rather sad as the structure must've been magnificent before the Deep Fog surrounded the land's borders. Hopefully once the Fog is lifted, everything will slowly come back to normal._

 _If he were to survive, that is._

 _Exploring the keep took some time as he kept coming across many crazed residents trying to take his life. Whether it be in the hallways, dining rooms, the forge, the stables and many chambers. It was a sad experience for him to endure as he was taught better by the departed knight he squired under. Much like effectively parrying a deranged knight's sword with his shield before delivering the fatal blow in the opposing man's chest._

 _Pulling his bloodied sword out, the adventurer flicked the blade to get rid of some of it's red coating before advancing forward. His step was becoming a tad slow, no doubt from all the fighting he was acting on. He wanted to properly rest somewhere in order to feel renewed later. But for now -until further notice- he'll need to conserve his strength._

 _Rounding the corner, he saw a barren room with hardly any opposition in sight. It was a tad strange for him, but with him slowly creeping forward, there was none to find; even if some were hiding behind pillars for a surprise attack._

 _All that he found out of the ordinary seemed to be a deeply dense fog covering a doorway at the top of a flight of stairs._

 _With a narrowed glance, the knight took some herbs from his pouch, consumed them and washed them down with what water he had left in his waterskin. He'll be sure to procure some more once out of this decrepit keep, once filtered properly that is. And once putting away the leathery container, the outlander marched forward and ascended the steps to the foggy doorway in order to face what might be on the other side._

 _Bracing himself, he stepped forward and entered a semi-lite room. It seems simple enough as there was some corridor on the other side that possibly got him out of the keep and onto somewhere else. But as he stepped closer and closer to the space, he felt the hairs on his body stood at their end before realizing something was up._

 _As a matter in fact, there was… with a loud quake being both felt and heard._

 _On instinct, the knight whirled his head around and saw a large, horned creature marching towards him. It was four or five times his size and rather grotesque with it's oily green hide, pudgy leathery wings, bloated belly and limbs and three glowing eyes. And as it got close, the monster raised up it's giant ax before bringing it down._

 _The knight quickly rolled away from the blow as his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. With widened eyes, the adventurer was in a brief state of disbelief in seeing this monstrosity._

' _This has got to be one of those Demons Vallarfax spoke about.' He thought before dodging the monster's blow once again. 'I must do my duty and slay this thing, but how?!'_

 _The knight quickly realized strategy had to be put away as he got back onto his feet and rushed behind the demon and slashed away with his sword. Blood seeped through the small gashes as the attacks continued. But the demon quickly got annoyed of the knight's attempt to slay him, quickly spinning around and smacking the man away._

 _The knight tumbled across the ground and tried to get back up. Yet the man hissed in pain, feeling his leg was sprained from the attack. And before he knew it, the demon stood over him with it's ax aimed right at him._

 _To which the knight screamed as the demon brought down it's weapon-_

"DAH!" Naruto yelped, dropping his book when he felt a hand placed onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." Spoke a familiar voice. "I didn't mean to scare you. Just trying to get your attention."

Composing himself, Naruto looked towards his side and found the source to be Talisa, the same older teen he met yesterday at the bridge.

"Talisa? What are you doing here?"

"Needing to get out of my mentor's place as the fumes there got a bit too much for me for now." Responded the healer-in-training.

"I probably bet. With all of the experimental ointments, medicine and the like."

"Pretty much… Though when I'm walking around to clear my head, I see you in the vicinity of a Red Priestess and not leaving." Talisa quirked a questioning brow. "Why is that?"

Grabbing his book from the ground, he quickly bookmarked his placement before registering Talisa's words. Naruto scratched his whiskered cheek in a sheepish manner. "Weeelll~ I'm-"

The shinobi was interrupted when Rhae slowly came up to them after being directed by one of the Volantene. "We can get going now, Naruto. My sermon is over."

Talisa blinked and gave the blonde teen a confused look. "What is going on?"

"Oh, I didn't know you were talking to someone, Naruto." Spoke the blind priestess before giving a small bow. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's quite alright. I just barely got here." Talisa said, accepting the small apology before putting her attention at the young man beside her.

"Yes?"

"Mind introducing us?"

Naruto fumbled a little before composing himself. "Ah, right. So Talisa, this is Rhae. And Rhae, this is Talisa."

Both teenaged women gave brief smiles to the other before a question crossed their minds. Yet it was Rhae who spoke it first. "And how do you know her?"

"I met Talisa yesterday at the Long Bridge and helped her out in buying some items… I broke on accident."

"Which I'm still thankful for, Naruto." Spoke the healer. "And how do you know Rhae?"

Before Naruto could answer, the blind priestess beat him to it. "He came by the temple last night as he was curious about our religion." A smile quickly graced her face. "We had a pleasant conversation and he wanted to spend some time with me today."

"...Didn't you say you were uncomfortable being around a Red Priestess yesterday, Naruto?"

"That I have."

"So why…"

"Because Rhae isn't creepy… or whatever." He said before quickly addressing the priestess. "No offense?"

"None taken."

Talisa gave a brief shrug as she could understand Naruto's thought. After all, not all of them are uncomfortable being around with. She can't judge all of them as a whole with there being those that are different from the rest.

"And what are you two doing now?" Questioned the healer.

It was the blind teen who spoke before the shinobi could get the chance to give his response. "We honestly don't know what else to do today, Talisa. Despite my limitations, Naruto's been a good guide for me before I gave my sermon here."

"And do you plan on doing any more, Rhae?"

"Maybe one more, maybe not. He promised to take me back when I felt like it."

The healer nodded before she felt a tad hungry. Thus she offered a suggestion. "Would you two like to come with me for something to eat? I know a good place."

Upon hearing this, Naruto's stomach grumbled a little.

He let out a small chuckle. "Seems we know where to go to next." He then turned to the priestess. "Unless you want to go somewhere else."

His response was his arm being wrapped by Rhae's. "None at all." The blind woman then addressed the healer. "Mind leading the way, Talisa?"

"Of course."

The trio walked at an even pace as Talisa helped navigate them to their destination. During this time, they chatted amongst each other on whatever came to mind. The two women exchanged some information about each other on what they felt comfortable about in their respective occupations. Rhae found it fascinating of Talisa wanting to be a healer as their typically men and women are often looked down upon in most areas of the world. And as for the Volantene noble, she got a little comfortable around the R'hllor priestess but not way too much.

With the shinobi, he found it rather nice as he learned a bit more about his current companions. Sure, he did give some personal information to at least be fair when chatting with them. And at one point of the conversation, a stray thought crossed Naruto's mind.

"Talisa?"

"Yes?" The healer responded as the trio waited at a small crosswalk.

Naruto pulled out the medallion from his pocket and showed it to Talisa. "I found this yesterday by the river bank and I was curious as to what it is."

The healer-in-training took the item into her grasp and inspected it. "This is interesting." She muttered out. "Haven't seen one of these in a _very_ long time."

"You know what it is?"

"Not entirely." Came the response. "It's design comes from the Rhoynar people."

"Sounds similar to the Rhoyne River?"

"Because it is." Rhae said, getting his attention. "The Rhoynar were a fair people that lived alongside Essos' longest river on each end of it, who were ancient and grand as Old Ghis. They paid respect and homage to the goddess Mother Rhoyne by calling themselves Rhoynar, in order to be like her children. Due to the river providing them food, help in trade, and much more."

Talisa picked up from there as the three soon crossed the street. "They weren't just fair, but were also strongly feared." Naruto walked in silence as he paid attention to the bit of history. "They were surely mocked for their battle attire of silver, fish scaled armor and helms while donning turtle shell-themed shields and spears, yet they've been successful each and every time as legend has it, Mother Rhoyne whispered their enemies' secrets into their ears."

"In most responses, their mages controlled the waters in order to flood and drown the enemy's encampments to end hostilities… for a time before things repeated themselves."

Hearing this detail from Rhae got Naruto interested. It sounded similar to what he heard of those from Kiri. Using the very mist that surrounded the hidden village to their advantage in whatever means possible.

Much like the scare tactics he was dealt with by Zabuza Momochi.

Passing by many Volantene, Talisa continued the little tale. "For centuries, everything was relatively peaceful until Valyrian colonists came around and eventually caused quite the fuss."

Naruto blinked before voicing his thought. "What happened?"

"Story had it that the Valyrians netted and butchered a giant tortoise the Rhoynar held sacred as it was a symbol of their Mother." Spoke the healer. "The ending result was thousands of Rhoynar were either slaughtered or enslaved by the Valyrians through the many battles that occurred ever since the incident."

"And after much fighting in separate fronts, the Rhoynish princes banded together under Prince Garin who lead the largest army Essos had ever seen." Said the blind priestess with a small smile. "It was so large that Garin's army was able to fend off and defeat one-hundred thousand colonist fighters, one-hundred war elephants and three mighty dragons under the Valyrians' thrall."

Naruto was wide-eyed upon the size of such a fight, wondering how it all went out in his head.

"But things eventually soured as Garin the Great's army marched against Volantis when they came across three-hundred dragons descending from the sky." The shinobi was momentarily brought out of his thoughts when hearing Talisa saying this. "Tens of thousands were burned alive by dragon fire while others were boiled to death, due to how hot Volantis' blood filled harbor got as it steamed."

The Uzumaki was horrified upon hearing this grim part of the story.

The blind priestess then continued where the healer left off. "If that wasn't enough, the Valyrian's decided to add much salt and lemon juice into the Rhoynish wounds." As if sensing Naruto's coming question, Rhae answered. "The Valyrians captured Prince Garin alive and instead of killing him, he was forced to watch his captors butchering the rest of his forces before they marched on his lands and enslaved all of the women and children his army left behind.

As the trio passed by another street, Talisa finished things off the grimly tale. "And legend said that he called out Mother Rhoyne to curse the Valyrians, and she -in turn- flooded their cities with dead-soaked waters and a damp fog, causing the skin of his enemies to harden and crack like stone. It became Garin's curse, but many know it as-"

"Greyscale." Naruto finished, quickly realizing on what was said. 'So that's how _that_ came to be.' He thought while quietly sympathising with the deceased prince. Seeing everything he cared and loved for to have either died or enslaved before him.

Garin couldn't do a thing about it… physically, that is.

Both of his companions sighed upon speaking this tale as it was a dark moment in Essos' history. Many lives suffered because of the birth of greyscale and it'll continue until gods' knows when. Maybe never as no one knows how to cure the sickening curse.

Saddened at the story, Naruto hoped there was something good from it. "Were there any survivors?" He asked.

"There were." Rhae said, perking the Uzumaki's spirits up a little. "Fearing a similar fate to her people, the Rhoynish princess Nymeria led her own people into every skiff, ship and raft they could get their hands on. It was very cramped on each vessel, but it was necessary for the remaining Rhoynar to flee Essos. And after much hardships, Nymeria's fleet made it to Westeros as they docked and eventually resided in sun-swept, bone-dry Dorne; where many Rhoynish descendants reside today."

This got more of Naruto's interest. If what they say is true -which probably is- then there could be more information with the Rhoynish over in Dorne.

'I'll need to talk to Oby-san when I get the chance about them.' He thought while silently asking for the medallion back from Talisa. 'He might not have brought that topic up in the lessons yet -or probably forgot- but this might push it forward.'

Things quieted down between the trio in somewhat stable silence for several more minutes as Talisa kept leading Naruto and Rhae along. Soon enough, they ended up in an area where the smell of food was present in the air. Looking around, the Uzumaki soon realized they were in a pavillion where several food stalls were set up for business.

Rhae let out a pleasant hum as the various, delicious smells hit her nose. With her enhanced senses, she was able to pick up on what ingredients were used in the food preparations. Though it was a bit hard to tell with so much going on at this moment.

"So what's this place you wanted to take us, Talisa?" Naruto questioned, eyes wandering to each of the food stands.

"It's right over here."

Rhae and Naruto followed Talisa towards one food stand that was tucked by the corner of the pavilion. Upon getting closer, an odd yet familiar smell hit the shinobi's nose. It was a bit hard to tell what it was before seeing a batch of noodles tossed into the air before landing in a boiling pot of water behind the shop's food bar.

'Ramen?' Naruto thought before shaking his head. 'No. Must be something else.' Looking up, he saw the name of the shop -both in basic and Yitish- scrawled onto a wooden plaque hanging some feet above the ground.

"A Simple Wok?"

"It's a really good place I go to often after lessons." Talisa said as she sat down on one of the bar stools before addressing the cook. "How's the day going, Lee?"

The man turned around and smiled at the healer-in-training. "It's doing quite well, Talisa."

He is an elderly, balding, gray-haired man with wrinkles under his eyes and over his brow. His attire consisted of a green shirt, gray pants and a dirtied red apron. With how the Yitish man moved around, it appeared sluggish due to his age. And it was hard to tell if he was blind or not, due to his eyes always seemed to be closed or squinted at an extreme degree. 

"And how's Mei?"

"Eh, my daughter's not feeling well. So Lin's filling in her spot later today." Talisa nodded as her two companions took their respective seats. "What would you like? You're usual?"

"I'll have some of the duck blood soup today, Lee."

"Coming right up."

Lee quickly put some already cooked noodles into a bowl before pouring in the ordered meal's broth, which was prepared in another pot. After putting in some other items in the bowl -such as duck meat- he served it to Talisa. Naruto looked over and expected to see blood inside of the soup, but was surprised to see none at all as it seemed to be mostly white in color.

Before taking a bite out of her meal, Talisa saw Naruto's curious expression. "You're wondering why it's not red, right?" He nodded, causing her to explain. "Story behind this was that centuries ago, a poor farmer was running out of food after the last of his crop withered away. One day, he decided to cook up one of his ducks, but had to use almost every bit of it in order to not waste it; even using a bowl to gather up all of it's blood."

Naruto was a little disgusted when hearing that last bit, but understood the farmer's desperation.

"When cooking the blood with what noodles and items he had on hand caused the blood to turn into this white saucy broth, which soon made it delicious. Once word got out of this, a Yitish noble hired the farmer to cook up this meal for him. And sure enough the man was hooked, causing him to take in the farmer as his personal chef; just to have this meal everyday."

The Uzumaki chuckled. "I would bet. If I had enough resources to have my favorite dish everyday in my life -by the person(s) who'd make it just right- I'd exploit what I can and set said person(s) for life."

His mood lessened a little as he thought about Ichiraku Ramen before his mind went to the father/daughter duo working there. They were so kind to him and despite him not having enough money to pay for his meals, the duo would give him the occasional free meal. And Tenchi and Ayame didn't always have enough supplies to make most meals on most days -due to not having the right amount of funds- but they do what they can to make him happy.

'If I were to get back home… somehow, I'll be sure to give them as much money as I can in order to repay them for all the good they've given me.' He thought before feeling himself being nudged from the side. Coming out of his thoughts, he saw Rhae was seeking his attention. "Yes?"

"We were trying to get your attention."

"For what?"

"What you'd like for your order." Sula responded as he was in the process of making a meal. "I already got the red priestess' order, but not yours."

"Ah, right. Sorry about that. I was just zoned out."

Talisa and Rhae looked at Naruto with respective, curious expressions. "Wanna talk about it?" Asked the healer.

"Maybe later." Said the Uzumaki before turning towards Rhae. "So what'd you get?"

Knowing he's addressing her, she answered. "I'm getting something called chongqing xiao mian. It sounded good and I wanted to try it out as I like some spice in most of my meals."

Nodding, Naruto looked over and saw an impromptu menu hanging off to the side. Taking a closer look, he saw the both the basic and Yitish wording -just like with the food shop's sign- as it gave out some of the basic items in each dish. After scanning through each item -which sounded rather tasty in their own right- Naruto came to a decision.

"One lan zhou la mian in beef, please."

"Coming right up." Spoke the cook before asking something on his mind. "Quick question. Your name sounds Yitish in some way. You from back there?"

"Nope, but I was asked that a few times."

Lee nodded, resuming back into finishing up the rest of Rhae's meal before working on Naruto's.

Despite looking sluggish, the Yitish man was surprisingly quick in freshly chopping up most of the ingredients; such as green onions and certain peppers. Probably after all of the years in his profession. Lee then grabbed a spoonful of certain spices and seasonings from the side before putting them into a bowl with the broth soon following. And in the end, the cook grabbed a batch of noodles from a boiling pot and placed them into the bowl.

"Here ya go, priestess. And be careful, it's gonna be a bit hot for your hands"

"Thank you." Rhae said, reaching forward to carefully grasp the bowl. "And don't worry, I'll manage."

"Right." The cook turned over and started working on his next order. "Be sure to stir your meal before digging in-in order to get the flavors into your noodles."

The blind priestess nodded and was about to do just that before wondering where her utensils would be at. Seeing her mild confusion, Naruto grabbed a pair of chopsticks from a nearby cup and handed them to her. Giving her thanks, she broke them apart and used them to stir her dish to get everything in order to have the coming flavors at their peak. After moving it around for several moments, Rhae used the Yitish utensils to grab some noodles and slowly placed them into her mouth.

She slowly slipped and sucked the noodles into her mouth before chomping down on them. The flavors assaulted her tongue and she indeed felt the spices, which gave out a pleasant hum. Swallowing, she gave a brief smile as she grabbed a small cloth to dab away some sauce from her lips.

"It tastes rather exquisite. My sincere compliments."

Lee smiled as he placed a batch of noodles into a wok over a roaring flame. "Why thank you." He then poured the desired broth with other ingredients soon after as he stirred and flipped them. Putting that off to the side for a moment -with flames creeping into it- the cook quickly chopped up the rest of his already cooked beef before tossing them into his wok.

Swirling around it's contents for several minutes, the dish was being cooked quite well. It's smell was rather pleasant towards the Uzumaki's nose. Even to Rhae and Talisa, who was drawing close to the end of her meal with only the broth being left to be drank. And after what seemed like forever, Lee tilted the still hot wok over a bowl and poured it's entire contents before giving the dish to the eagar whiskered shinobi.

"Here ya go, lad."

Giving Lee his thanks, Naruto brought the bowl onto the counter and looked at it. Taking out a pair of chopsticks from the little cup, he broke them apart and quickly set them in his hands before taking a small amount of noodles. Blowing away some of the heat, Naruto soon partook them into his mouth and crewed.

Spongy and chewy was the noodle's taste. It was no doubt thicker than most microwaved ramen he had back at his apartment in Konoha. Comparing them to the ones to Ichiraku, it was close to some points. And as for the broth and ingredients, this dish was a few points shy away from Ichiraku once more.

Probably because the Uzumaki knew the father/daughter pair much longer as he considered them surrogate uncle and older sister respectively in terms of relations. He cared for them and vice versa. And it was probably because of this an extra taste was given into each dish made by them.

Before he knew it, Naruto emptied his bowl's contents as he gave out a pleasant smile. "This was delicious, Lee."

"Thanks for the compliment, lad." Lee said as he was soon handed their meals' payment by the healer-in-training.

Even though Rhae and Talisa seemed to be full of their meal, it seemed Naruto wasn't. 'Must because this must've been simular to ramen and my gut demands more.' Came the thought before addressing the cook. "Question: Do you accept Westerosi coin?"

Lee blinked -if that were really possible with his squintish gaze- for a few moments before addressing the Uzumaki. "Uh… yes, we do."

Naruto's smile widened into a fox-like visage with a chuckle escaping his lips. "Welp~ I've got quite a lot in my wallet. So keep the bowls rolling cause you lot are gonna see something _really_ special."

Just hearing this got both the Uzumaki's two companions and the cook to give him questioning looks as to what might happen next.

 _ **-Back at the Temple-**_

There are many times in her life Kinvara had closely perfected the so called 'poker face' upon using it in given situations.

She never gambled before in any game she played in the past. If she did, it was a _very_ long time ago, to which she vaguely forgot or thought otherwise.

But the expression served her purpose time and time again in order to hide away certain emotions in particular moments in her life. It's not much, yet it's a bit exhausting to her if used often.

And she's starting to feel these effects much sooner than she'd like due to what's going on right now in her solar with a pair of Fiery Hand soldiers standing guard nearby.

"...Of course with your god's blessing, I'd direct more and more Volantene to flock towards your temple to be basked into His light." Spoke the man sitting before her with a swave smile plastered across his face.

This man was Daaren Ahraris, arguably Volantis' most powerful merchant prince. There were several things that got him to earn such a spot. One being a family line as his household has lived in this city since roughly before the Doom. Second was how _successful_ his profession has been for the past couple of years. And lastly were how many connections he has inside of the city and with what kind of influence he has over said connections.

Given the several times she'd interacted with Daaren got Kinvara to know he was very much annoying.

You see, R'hllor's High Priestess of Volantis was currently meeting with this merchant prince for the fifth time on a topic that was shared with each of the past ones: the upcoming Triarch elections.

Daaren had come to R'hllor's temple and sought out it's priests and priestesses in hopes of having them help sway the city's populous in having them favor him over his competitors. Each of them courteously refused his request, causing him to seek Kinvara as she's the highest mortal authority in the temple. And instead of instantly refusing him like those under her, the High Priestess decided to hear the merchant prince out on his request.

Oh how she wish she didn't, saving herself several headaches.

Daaren was a stubborn, arrogant man that was persistent in getting whatever he wanted. He wanted to hold a position of authority in the city, which would've ended up boosting his sickening ego. But due to his family's standing not being one of the old aristocracies, he can't get higher than his merchant prince status. So he's been buying his way to get as much connections as he could. And with said connections, Daaren's been doing some good to the city in order to sway public opinion, having him be seen more favorable than the others.

Yet Kinvara thought otherwise.

"It all sounds well and good on your proposition, Lord Aharis."

"Thank you-"

"But I question your devotion towards our Lord." Kinvara interrupted with a very small frown. 'Among other things.'

The merchant prince was perplexed at this. "I don't understand what you mean, High Priestess. I often send the temple donations and food stuff."

"To which my fellow priests and priestesses and I are very thankful for. But that is not what I'm speaking about."

"Then what is it? Is it because I don't follow your faith?"

"No, it's not that. I'm not that biased towards that fact." Kinvara then explained the detail. "Many Triarchs have come and gone through their position in years past. Some had been favored by us while others haven't. And even though several Triarchs were devoted to our faith, there have been those we supported as they were not following our Lord; and vice versa."

"...I don't see what you're going with this."

"Politics and religion don't mingle often as they _rarely_ work well together." Pulling out her coin purse, she soon withdrew a single gold honor and held it in front of her. "When they do, it's much like what happens with those born out of incest; much like the Targaryens when they once ruled Westeros. A godly coin is flipped to determine the child's destiny, with one side being for glory while the other in despair."

Kinvara flicked the coin hard into the air as it spun several times before landing onto her tea table where it spun. "This oddly applies quite well with politics and religion whenever they work together: it fails or succeeds time and time again. It's not just done by fately chance, but through hard work and determination… along with other necessities." The coin soon started to slow down. "Like, for instance, having one of our priestesses marry a political person in question. Having deeper ties towards our faith and we'd have _some_ influence during their time having their pretty little _seat._ "

The merchant prince could only sit there and listen to the priestess to what she was going on with this. Yet part of his attention kept going towards the coin which was starting to wobble across its surface. The sound it gave off was getting a little annoying for him as it didn't seem to end.

"But in each respective city where our temples reside, our high priests and priestesses would have certain individuals looked into if they seek positions of great power." The coin's sound seemed to grow louder and louder at this point. "Pentoshi princes, Braavosi sealords, and Triarchs. Each are the same, one way or another as they influence the region as a whole." Before Daaren could instinctively stop the coin, Kinvara beat him to it by slamming her hand onto both the gold honor and table which quickly startled him on the act. "And what we don't like is corruption spreading in our midst."

The merchant prince blinked, soon processing what Kinvara just said. "Wait just a-"

"I don't have to pray upon my Lord to see that you are really seeking out the Triarch position for your own game, Lord Ahraris." She said, pretty much implying what the man didn't want to hear.

"Wait, see reason!" He demanded as he quickly shot to his feet, causing the guards in the room to draw their weapons in order to protect Kinvara. The Volantene merchant quickly grew hatred for being treated like this by a woman of this damn religion!

"No. I will not since you won't." Evenly spoke the High Priestess. "You'll seek out people and use them for your plans in hopes of achieving them. When they've proven more trouble than they're worth, you'd get rid of them one way or another. I've seen this many times in my life and you fit in that category very much. And I do not want to see this temple and all those who reside in it die because of you."

The man glared at her, knuckles turning white from the power of his grip when clenching them tightly. Soon he grabbed the woman's cloth as he brought her to his face. "And isn't what your religion does? Uses people fear and hopelessness to join a cult?" their fear and hopelessness to make themselves feel important. You're not even worth much to them!"

"You best let go, Daaren Ahraris. If not, then my Lord's Fiery Hands will strike you down. Same applies if you try to harm me" She warned as her eyes seemed to burn into his. The stare seemed too much for him, causing him to let her go. "Leave. I do not want to see or hear about you on this temple grounds ever again. If you do then you will burn."

"I will make you pay for this… this harassment!" He vowed leaving as he began to think of ways to get his revenge upon her. "The day I lose to her again is the day-" His words were lost to Kinvara as she tried to calm her hands as it was a bit shaky from the man almost physically harming her; which was _very_ rare.

"I don't care for such things, only for what is best." She stated to herself, now regaining her composure from earlier. When she did, the priestess saw the merchant prince escorted out of the solar and soon off the premises by the Fiery Hand guards.

Kinvara felt a bit relieved that she didn't have to meet Daaren ever again. Never having to suffer headaches as a result of interacting with him. Now she can focus back into other necessities.

Yet she had a feeling she needed to take care of the merchant prince before he becomes too much of a problem. He sees his plans towards the end and with him being slighted by her, he'd want to get back at her; one way or another.

'I just can't outright kill him.' She thought, walking towards a small section of the solar where the wines from all over the world were placed. 'I could have, only if he didn't put his name into the Triarch ballets already.'

Deaths occurred to many Triarch candidates over the years. A quick and simple end to get rid of the competition. Depending on what was done and to who, repercussions could be an end result. Killing an official candidate is no exception as a backlash would harm both the accuser and one who did the deed. And even if the criminal isn't caught, an investigation would be placed and it would become quite the hot mess to deal with.

The only way for Kinvara to truly get Lord Ahraris out of her hair is to have physical proof of the man's corruption.

She can't outright declare the man is corrupt to the masses as she saw it in the flames. Too many in her position did so in the past and it was a mixed bag as to what happened next. The most devot quickly accepted the words while the rest where skeptical, thinking it was unfair for a trial without proper evidence. Information was too conflicted, causing the eventual trial by combat.

And of course that kind of trial could be rigged. The champions for the respective parties could be stronger than the other or fowl play could get involved. The innocent party would be sentenced to death and the corrupt would walk away scott-free.

If Kinvara wanted to get this properly taken care of, she needed a way to get the information she needed to present to the masses to get Daaren out of the polls and sentenced to death.

'But how?' Was the thought as she drank a bit of Arbor Gold from her goblet.

As the people say: opportunity tends to knock in the most unexpected moments.

"Lady Kinvara, we've returned."

Her lips parted away from the goblet before turning over to the solars entrance in order to see Naruto and Rhae walking closer to her. A smile graced her face when seeing the pleasant look on her surrogate daughter's face. It helped elevate her mood from what went on moments ago.

Placing down her cup, Kinvara ask her a question. "How was your time, my dear?"

"It was quite nice, my Lady. I enjoyed it very well."

Kinvara nodded before addressing Rhae's companion for today. "And I see she is unharmed."

"Eyup~ I kept her safe like ya wanted." Naruto said with a grin. "No problems ever happened."

"Indeed… although I have some reservations on you today." Rhae said with a knowing smile.

Naruto groaned as he rolled his shoulders as if trying to ignore her words, "I said I was sorry. I didn't eat that much!"

Kinvara was curious on what occurred at this point. "Am I missing something? What is it about food that upsetted you?"

"It wasn't about what we had exactly." Said the blind teen. "Far from it. It was a pleasant meal that I wish to possibly have again at a later time." She turned her head towards Naruto. "Problem was with how gluttonous he turned out to be."

"It was only sixties bowls. C'mon, the old man back home considered that a light meal. If I was really going at it, I would've hit in the nineties!" Naruto barked out, trying to stop their view on him from going bad. "And how was _I_ supposed to know that eating that much was going to affect his next day's amount?"

Kinvara blinked in bewilderment. "You're jesting… surely it was not that many." She said slightly stun at the amount of food and his belly not be… well figuratively speaking bloated as a whale when walking in.

"Here." The woman took out a piece of a paper as it was marked fifty times, "The man in the stall gave us that to make sure he counted the bowls. He begged us not to come back the few following days."

Naruto could only chuckle. "If you thought that was bad, you should have seen Tenchi and Ayame's expressions when I hit that hundred mark to get free ramen for a month… I swear, there was like a little ghost coming from his mouth that his daughter had to stuff back in~" He grinned remembering how the old man was joking in that small contest and that Naruto couldn't even win… too bad he was training _really_ hard that day.

One didn't need to see Rhae's eyes to see her giving the whiskered teen beside her a good-natured glare. But her tightening her arm around him got the message across.

"Naruto…"

"Hey! At least I paid Lee back, in full and with interest." The blonde pouted as he didn't see the problem of indulging of his favorite food… or in this case, something close.

"To which he almost fainted in shock in the amount you gave him; not even exactly practical. And if it wasn't for Talisa, Lee possibly would've had a heart attack."

"Once again… we're back to me saying 'sorry'!" He roared out comically before seeing a particular grin that quickly annoyed him. "See? She restarts the cycle of teasing me!" He pointed to the blind girl to the older woman like a child telling his mom his sibling was bullying them. Thus Rhae let out a little bit of giggles on his act.

It was at this point Kinvara let out a bigger smile than before. She was clearly happy to see Rhae in better moods and bonding more with the boy their Lord seems interested in. Who knows for sure if this is a good starting point to possibly have Naruto join or take interest into their faith.

Her thoughts momentarily went to that of a Red Priest by the name of Thoros of Myr. He was originally tasked by Myr's High Priest in going to Westeros around the end of Robert's Rebellion in order to get close and befriend the newly minted king. It was rather simple as both indulged in the same vices of fighting, drinking and whoring.

It would be with this opportunity that the Red Faith would slowly creep its way across the Seven Kingdoms and better prepare themselves for the Long Night that came after the Long Summer.

Yet Thoros failed in his task. Either from being too lax into doing his duty towards his Lord or didn't give a damn anymore. All Kinvara knows is that the priest from Myr is still at King's Landing as he's apart of King Robert's court. He even participated in fighting alongside the Baratheon king during the Greyjoy Rebellion. And many of their faith thought this could've been the opportunity to get people to join R'hllor's mighty flame due to what accomplishments Thoros did in said rebellion.

But nope. Nothing happened one bit. Even after he charged into battle with his flaming sword. To which many thought he merely coated the sword in oil or wildfire to give off the effect so that bit of conversion didn't work at all. And if they had the right mind, people would've corrected the wildfire detail as the substance would have ate away both Thoros' sword and his arm before consuming the rest of his body.

...Perhaps a different approach was in order, to which Kinvara would need to plan pertaining the Uzumaki before her.

Time had passed in the solar as the three ended up having a pleasant conversation amongst each other. Some food and drink was brought in at one point as the two priestesses kept the shinobi company.

At one point, Naruto looked outside the nearby window to soon notice the light of day was slowly dying into the night. He looked towards his sight-challenge companion with a small look of guilt. "So you should get to those chores, right?" Naruto said as he realized the time flying by rather quickly. "I didn't mean to drag you out for this long."

Rhae herself realized it before she looked to Kinvara. "I-I apologized, I shall tend to my duties!" She promised before moving out to her religious work.

"Do not worry, I've already taken care of them." The older woman said as Rhae looked back in astonishment. "Even someone like us need time to unwind and… bond with others." She chose her words carefully to not let Naruto catch anything suspicious and to also remind the blind priestess on certain necessities.

"Thank you." She sat back to her seat on the couch with her cheeks turning slightly red at the reminder of her Lord's task upon her.

Not knowing what the two red priestesses _really_ meant, Naruto nodded in agreement. "Working so much without proper leisure isn't good for ya, Rhae, as you'd burnout in the end." Both women adopted curious expressions on the unknown term, causing him to quickly explain. "It's what happens if you overwork or stress yourself too much that either your head, body or emotions can't take it anymore that you'd collapse." He sighed while briefly seeing them nod as he gained a small far-off look. "I've often overworked myself to the point that what progress I've done in my work became wasted. Either if it was from my lessons, training or at the smithy. And I learned the hard way that I needed to manage my time between work and play properly or else things will be truly a mess."

The visually challenged teen nodded at Naruto's words and would consider the advisement.

The Uzumaki then stood up from his seat and then gave his companion and the High Priestess an apologetic smile. "As much as I'd like to stay around longer, I gotta get going. I've got stuff to take care of before the morning."

Both priestesses blinked and reacted on their own upon hearing him say that. Kinvara was hard to read, but Rhae was saddened as she wouldn't be able to interact with him any longer. Time went by so fast for her as she greatly enjoyed the experience being around him.

But now…

"Then I wouldn't be able to see you again… as you're leaving tomorrow."

Naruto frowned a little as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I know." He sighed. "Wish I could stay longer, but I've gotta uphold my promise to these people I'm traveling with back to their home."

"At Dorne?" Kinvara asked for confirmation from a topic spoken about from earlier.

Well it wouldn't really be asking as she already knew beforehand. The Light of Wisdom remembered seeing Naruto's traveling companion through the flames and realized who the man was exactly. And the only other place Oberyn Martell would go to next would be at his home over in Westeros.

"Yes."

The Lord's First Flame nodded. "And do you plan to travel anywhere else afterwards?"

Naruto shrugged. "Probably, yeah. As to where, no clue at this moment. Lots of places to see and visit."

"Maybe you could come back here at some point." She said, causing Rhae to perk up a little on the idea.

All Naruto did was shrug once more. He could consider it, but it would be a longshot.

There's hardly anything to come back here to unless he wanted to play tourist. He could come back to see Talisa, but she told him yesterday that once her training is done, she'd be traveling as well and doesn't know exactly where she'd hit first… not to mention when. And with Rhae, she could use some company and _see_ a friendly face from outside her temple life. Hanging out like what happened earlier would be a nice experience to have again.

But just coming back to Volantis just to see either of them seemed a bit much if he were to admit it.

"I can help walk you out, Naruto." Rhae offered, standing up from her seat.

He was about to accept the offer, but Kinvara stopped him by speaking up. "And you can, my dear. But I would like to speak to Naruto a moment." She turned her head towards the shinobi. "If you wouldn't mind."

Naruto blinked and was curious on what's going on. Momentarily putting that to the side, he spoke to the visually challenged teen who seemed a little antsy. "I don't think anything bad will happen, Rhae. You can wait for me, if that's fine with you."

Rhae gave a brief nod and thanks before excusing herself from the solar.

"Forgive me for taking more of your time, just to get that out of the way." The older woman kindly gave a low bow of her head to ease Naruto into their new conversation.

"I think it's alright, Kinvara. But mind telling me what you want to speak to me about?"

"I wish to ask if you are still interesting in learning our religion?" She asked knowing that if he says yes, she can still do some work in making him visit them not only for Rhae; but for also joining them if she plays her pieces right.

All she got in return was a raised look from him. "Uh… not really." He then waved his hand to the side in response. "And sorry if I offended you on refusing but I learned all I need to know from Rhae. And I gotta tell ya, but she was quite informative in telling me everything when we spent time together today."

A small smirk formed on her lips. _"Everything?"_

"Well… I think so. Mostly every bit of information you taught her."

"Good to know. And you don't need to worry about me being offended at all."

He let out a small sigh of relief.

"I sincerely hope you come to meet with us again, we do miss having… hmhm, proper conversations with males than when they usual come for." She said, speaking the truth as she knew this young man was something to be careful both for fear of losing him and how he can notice a small slip in people's lies or mistakes.

"If that's all you want to talk to me about, then I best not keep Rhae waiting."

Before he got the chance to move from his spot, Kinvara spoke. "There is one thing."

"Which is?"

"A request. You can accept it or not. It is your choice."

'Another one?' He thought as curiosity seemed to draw him in. "And what would that be?"

"Do you remember seeing a man being escorted out of the temple as you and Rhae returned?"

The shinobi blinked. "Yeah, what of it?"

"He is most likely going to bring harm or even death us." She bluntly told him as the priestess knew that telling about their safety -mostly Rhae's- would get him to react for the request. "To shorten this -for both our sakes- the man and I had disagreements. I did, however it may seem, done my utmost best to find a peaceful resolution but he didn't take it… well." Kinvara told her version of what happen earlier.

Naruto slowly nodded, taking in what she told him. "And do you _really_ believe he'd really want to end you and the others? Could be a simple threat or he wouldn't live up to making it work."

"I believe he will as he has the means and resources."

"...And why are you telling me about this?"

"From what I've learned in our chats earlier that you took on certain _jobs,_ due to what kind of profession I realized you have; asides from being a blacksmith."

Naruto mentally punch himself for letting that tidbit slip out, then again he would never think a religious woman would ask him for help rather than prey it away.

Letting out a small groan, he rubbed his eyes. "Okay, I need to know other things like will he bring others? What should I expect? And most of all, what do _you_ want _me_ to deal with this?" He questioned, not allowing his new friend to be harmed. But also have to make sure not to mess with the wrong people if he was going against people that old man told him not to go after.

He did not want to get fucked sideways by doing this request and having all the blame placed on him. Naruto already dealt with similar moments like this in his youth and he did NOT to experience that shit again.

"I assure you, we just need a shadow to watch over us." She calmly explained. "While he is a fool, he isn't one to send men to harm us in broad daylight. Having a man watching over us and also letting him know that you are watching us, will instill fear into the man and allow us to go upon our days." The priestess then let out a hum that seemed unnerving to the shinobi. "And knowing he can't lift a finger at us is the penultimate way to rule him over..." She said with a dark smile curving upwards as Naruto sweatdrop at the sudden sadistic streak on her.

"O~kay…" He sounded off before not really knowing what to say right away. "But in case you forgot, I'm leaving Volantis _tomorrow_. There's no way I can really stay longer than I have to and do what you recently asked for."

Well technically he could with a shadow clone, but she doesn't need to know that.

Kinvara gave a curt nod. "Right, of course." She then pondered a little moment before remembering something she contemplated earlier. It could be a longshot, but she had the distinct feeling the whiskered boy in front of her could fulfill it.

'I SOOO don't like that look.'Was Naruto's thought as she seem to be rather please with herself.

 _ **-Evening, Black Wall of Volantis-**_

Standing on top of one of the infamous walls of Essos -with the other residing by Yi Ti as to what Oberyn told him- Naruto overlooked the current maze-like layout of Volantis' most fortified area.

'This is gonna be quite the mess to navigate through.' Was the thought as he scratched his head while looking over a small map. 'Don't know exactly where this Daaren's place is at as all these residences seem jammed pack. Not to mention the location Kinvara gave me didn't specify the exact spot.'

The task the Red Temple's High Priestess asked him to do was finding and procuring a particular amount of important information this merchant prince had in his home. Stuff pertaining solid evidence on supposed crimes Kinvara spoke to him about. The High Priestess explained more on the situation at hand as she couldn't outright have the man arrested and tried for his accusations as he was currently a Triarch candidate.

If she did, then a whole shitshow would rain upon her and her home… Naruto's words, not hers.

Despite accepting her request, the Uzumaki was weary in fully trusting her. He had to keep his mind opened for what will occur in his find. Though it didn't hurt he was already planning on sneaking past the Black Wall to see what's within the maze-like, several layered area. Not to mention he already had a clone sent out early to survey the area to _somewhat_ make things easier for tonight.

Once leaving the Red Temple, Naruto made his way back to the inn the Martell entourage was staying at. Everything was all fine and good in preparations for their departure tomorrow. Their stocks and storage were filled and handfuls of crew members were celebrating in their own way, standing guard at the ships or going to bed early for the long trip back to Dorne.

Upon checking up on Oberyn, he greeted the Uzumaki and questioned him what he did for the day. Naruto didn't say much as he merely explored Volantis a bit more while keeping the detail about him interacting with Rhae and what happened at the Red Temple. Though the bits pertaining Talisa was fair game… to which he regretted as the Dornishman teased him relentlessly on him _courting_ the Volantene noble healer-in-training.

" _So that's it? No other cute, beautiful girls to catch your fancy?" Oberyn mused with a cheshire-like grin. "Probably for the best as Talisa is probably winning you over."_

You see? He was looking for ammo! Imagine what would happen if the outworlder even mentioned Rhae, the teasing might never end!

Shaking his jokes out of his head, Naruto shook his head as Oberyn nodded to his little friend's tell of his time outside.

Soon enough, Naruto had asked his older companion about what he knows about the Black Wall and what lied behind it. Remembering what the young lad was going to do, Oberyn told him everything about the brief time he last walked past it's gates.

In his youth, the Dornish prince came to Volantis and spent time with a noble woman. They had fun and enjoyed each other's company. One thing lead to another as they ended up doing the deed inside her very home -which was behind the Black Wall- before young Oberyn sailed away on his journey around the world.

The next time he came to Volantis was when he got a letter in Dorne, speaking about the noble woman he slept with passing away… as she gave birth to Oberyn's second daughter, Nymeria. He was to fetch her and take her with him as the family didn't want anything to do with the newborn. Saddened on the fact they wouldn't want her raised under their roof, he accepted and took baby Nymeria to Dorne.

After this small, sad tale, the Red Viper told Naruto what to expect when traversing past the Black Wall that to simply put it; the layout was primarily a maze and it was backed up with what information he got from his clone's memories.

There were high walls built into the high class area separating certain districts from the others. One area was meant to house one of Volantis' two banks with many of its employees living within the Black Wall. Another is meant for educational purposes for the future ruling nobles. And the further in and deeper as one goes with the ringed sections, the more influential and rich the Black Wall residents are. And at the center of it all were the Triarch palaces, the homes of the reigning Volantene as they live out their term before the end of the coming elections.

Asides from this fact, one part to really count towards the area being a maze was how confusing the inner layouts were. Revisions have been done countless times with how many residential buildings and houses have changed over the generations. Nobles wanting to either tear down, merge or completely renovate pieces of land and property to suit their needs. Mostly as a way of them either wanting to keep with the _old_ ways or taking it away and replace it with something _new_. It got to the point that the people living within the confines of the Black Wall needed proper guides to get them to their destinations. If not, then they'd get lost time and time again.

'Why the hell they keep doing that is a complete waste of time and money is beyond me.' Naruto though with a sigh as he walked along the top of the Black Wall. 'They're just throwing all those expenses away into the wind, but I guess business is business with the stupid dick wagging contest of theirs.' Looking back at the map, he scratched his head once more. 'Why Daaren Aharis isn't living nearby the other merchant princes is beyond me.'

From what he was told by Kinvara, the majority of merchant princes lived just outside of the Black Wall. They were not of Volantene noble blood, only earning their wealth due to good business, proper savings and reputation. The only way either of them can live within the Black Wall territory would be either by marriage or having noble blood running through their veins.

Daaren had neither, yet he was living several sections away from the Triarch palaces. How?

'Probably what I'd find in there could answer that question.' He thought before checking the map once more to see the possible direct route to the merchant prince's home from his current position. 'I better get going or else I might get spotted by a patrolling tiger guard up here.' Putting the map away, his eyes then went towards the sky to see the clouds covering up the moonlight to see it was time to act now.

Taking a running start, Naruto pumped his legs full of chakra in order to make a mighty leap into the air in order to cover a vast distance towards his destination. Just as fast as he soared through the air did he start plummeting towards the earth. As he got closer and closer to one of the rooftops did he cover his feet with chakra in order to cushion his fall. And once making contact with the building's surface did he perform a recovery roll before taking off once more.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, a smile surprisingly crossed his face. This task he was taking was something a shinobi like him thrives in! And with people here having no access to chakra possibly made this even more easier for him!

Coming closer and closer to the designated house -after checking several others for confirmation- Naruto saw a large four-story manor with a patrol of tiger-cloaked guards stationed at every other entrance and visible level his eyes could see for their patrol. This could prove to be a little problem, but it's something he expected as no task is ever easy. And if this was done in the daylight or twilight hours, this would be even more challenging for him.

...Then again, he crudely painted the Hokage Monument in broad daylight in his orange jumpsuit and no one noticed until the very moment he was done. Not to mention sneaking into both the ANBU headquarters in order to pull pranks and the Hokage Mansion in stealing the Forbidden Scroll.

So in a way, he's got this handled.

Still perched on the rooftop overlooking the merchant prince's residence, Naruto quickly saw the moon slowly reveal itself from the clouds above. He snuck into the shadows before walking down the wall. Reaching the ground, Naruto kept a close eye at the guards who were walking several feet away from his position. He took his time and waited in the darkness for the right time to move.

An opportunity arose as the tiger-cloaked guards walked away splitting up. The shinobi dashed out of the darkness and entered the property before entering the shadows once more. He hugged the darkened wall as another group started walking closer to his position. As they passed by him, he slowly crept away to find a way to get inside of the home.

Encircling the building, Naruto found a window several feet above him. He ducked back into the shadows as he saw another guard walking by. Noticing the moonlight being blocked by the clouds above once more, he used his chakra to climb up the wall to reach the window. He quickly got to work by pulling out a kunai and slipped it into the window panel's crack to lift up the little lock on the other side. With that done, he slipped inside and closed the window so no one would notice.

'Gonna need to remember this spot for my escape.' Came the thought before turning around to see himself in a hallway. 'Now let's find some dirt on this guy.'

Naruto recalled the purpose of the first part of the Chunin Exams, pertaining intelligence gathering without being caught. Any slip up could mean the matter of life and death with capture and torture being possible lead ups towards the ending results. Despite this portion being exciting also made him a tad nervous.

Slowly walking down the hall, Naruto remembered what he asked Jiraiya on the topic while they were tracking down Tsunade to make her the 5th Hokage. He elaborated more on the various ways in doing so as he was a legitimate spymaster. The Toad Sage dealt most of it through contacts via reports or eavesdropping on people's conversations. But if doing a more _personal_ touch, one would need to look through a person's office or bedroom as sensitive material would be stored there. Either from a hidden safe, locked cabinets or drawers; even a locked room counted as well.

The shinobi could go straight to any of the hiding places, but he didn't have the proper lock-picking tools of taking care of the locks without showing signs of foul play. This meant he needed to find keys in unlocking these spots.

'They might be on his person or on any one of his guards.' Was the thought as he slowly entered one room on the first floor, only to find nothing special as he inspected it. 'Should take care of that now instead of later.'

Forming a clone, he had it sent back the way he came from to survey the tiger guards to see if either of them had keys on them. Seeing the chakra construct walk away, Naruto continued opening up each door and inspected the rooms as best as he could on the first floor. Nothing out of the ordinary was found, only things that showed how much gaudy the decor on this floor was. And even then, there wasn't much to look at the kitchens and food storage area.

Seeing nothing useful here, he continued his search on the second floor. There he found less rooms in it but there was more space used for specific purposes.

For instance, one was a training room where several weapons were placed in stands and racks. Curious about them, the shinobi inspected them and found almost all were not well done. They were designed to be show pieces and if used in a fight, they'd break after one or so hits. Others were a bit better but the craftsmanship was rather shoddy. One wouldn't really notice it unless they know the profession quite well in forging such things.

Such a waste of material.

After his inspection on the Volantene's displayed weapons, he noticed something sparkly above him when leaving the room, a gold chain that was connected to a nail preventing it from falling. However the moonlight was only so bright that it allow Naruto to noticed it. Using the faintest of chakra he walked to the ceiling to undo the chain carefully to make sure the metal chains. He tapped it once, to hear nothing, good no traps or at least anything violent.

"Slowly…" He pulled the golden chain before realizing that it was connected to a wooded square. "Shit!" Placing a hand under it to prevent anything moving to quickly, he resume to it to fall at a easier pace to see it had a collapsible ladder. "Gotcha~" He smirked as this was a old trick back in the village.

Most clans usually have a way to hide secret Jutsu's -or in Choji's family, food rations in case of bad winters- to prevent theft when the village ever was defeated. Thus if they fought back or lost, most of the ninja's of other villages would never -or in a few years at most- gain the scrolls.

"Let's see what your hidden here…"

Making the ladder and quickly moving up, the blonde used a ninja wire to the first step to refold the hidden ladder to hide his path. The young man eyes were covered in pitch black darkness, "Need a light." He dug into his pockets to pull out something that he knew that was perfect for his mission. He pulled out a paper tag, as he added some chakra to it… soon a blue flame appeared from the top of the tool. 'Sakura taught me this in case of no fire, she said total control can make this last as long as you want. But…' He sweatdrop remembering that this parlor trick was something that he and Sasuke had problems with. Sasuke could do a total of an hour before the paper tag gets all set on fire, before he took more of his training into this world seriously…

The paper became engulf in the azure flames before sighing, "Dammit, keep a calm mind; ya idiot." He cursed himself using the _minimum_ of his chakra to draw out the light as he only made a few due to the simplistic yet accurate writing. After making sure the amount was steady, he looked around as the blue light did a great job illuminating the room. "Huh… must be his art gallery." He muttered as he slowly walked through as his eyes wandered the space. "But why keep it hidden like this?" At one point, he blinked in absolute confusion as a brief thought was voiced. "...And why have _this_ in here?"

The object Naruto was currently looking at appeared to be an ancient idol of a greasy black material. Bringing his light source closer, he saw it was crudely carved into resembling a gigantic toad of malignant aspect that was at least twice his height.

'This place must have been reinforced to handle the weight of this thing.' He squatted down to check out the toad idol's connecting placement towards the floor. 'If not then this would've crashed right through.' Standing back up, he scratched his head and looked around the layout of the hidden art gallery. 'Must've been renovated years ago in order to properly store this thing… here of all places. I wouldn't see it any other way.'

Putting that thought aside, Naruto looked back at the toad idol and was saddened. It reminded him much of his toad summon, Gamakichi, and possibly the few other toads he met after signing their contract. He didn't interact with them much, but his personal summon was really fun to get along with.

Scratching his whiskered cheek, he wondered if he should take this with him or not.

"Ah, fuck what's one piece of crap missing from here?" He said taking out a storage seal as he placed it in front of the the statue. "Might come in handy to drop on some asshole's head. That or give it to the Toads as a present… if I ever see them again."

Forming a few shadow clones, they carefully lifted up the toad idol and slowly placed it down onto the available seal. It was quite the struggle due to its weight, but it was somewhat solved by pouring more chakra into the limbs. Once the chakra constructs quickly used up their power and disbursed into smoke, Naruto sealed up the greasy black object away before exploring the rest of the hidden gallery.

That was until he felt something fall against his foot. Looking down, he saw some obsidian black colored box that was roughly larger than his hand. Curious about it, he picked it up before feeling some inky substance rubbing against his hand. Momentarily placing the box to the side, he saw some evidence where it was previously at: underneath the toad idol.

Could've been placed there intentionally or not. Just a mystery that he'd never solve at the present time. What could be solved would be what's inside the box… only after it got cleaned up somewhere else of course.

Grabbing a spare cloth, he wrapped the box in it and placed it into his pouch before he explored.

"Odddddd… crap~" He sang out his feelings as he looked around the more odd 'art' that that the merchant prince or his family had acquired. Nothing but nude statues of women, bad taste of paintings, and even more vile of… was that a marble made of a man's penis?! "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think my taste of style is better than this shit." He whispered but noticed that the room echoed his words, this room wouldn't allow voices to be heard from the outside, save for explosions and yelling. "Hello…" Testing out out his voice and yet again, the reverb was the same. He could talk and no one would be the wiser...

"...The walls must be rather thick." He said before shaking his head. "Can't abuse this detail. If the guy's here or not, I still need to be careful."

He looked around for anything of value, moving around the room to see ugly statue after even uglier statue in hopes of getting something to pay off. It was towards the end of this odd gallery when he came across something… strange.

It was a pair of murals on tapestries, very old and large ones at that.

Carefully bringing his light source up it -as he didn't want to accidentally burn it- the whiskered Uzumaki saw the designs depicting some sort of war shown on one of them. It was a little hard to tell at first on who or what was used in this as they were stick-figures in design. Taking a deeper look, he saw one batch were humans… and leafy looking people… fighting against demonic looking creatures in a snowy landscape.

'Wonder what the hell this is about?' He pondered before his eyes went towards the neighboring mural.

What he saw in this one seemed… opposite in some details. Instead of a snowy landscape, it was of a desolate landscape filled with ash and bones under a solar eclipse. Depictions of weapons littered about the land and there was only one person shown in the artwork. He or she was wearing some suit of armor as he/she was kneeling in front of some sort of burning sword and reached out to it… as it it was beckoning and was drawn towards it and wanted to keep the flame safe.

The moment he blinked, Naruto recoiled a little in surprise as he wondered if it was the lack of light… or something else as the person shown in the mural changed. Instead of being in a suit of armor, the person seemed to be wearing thick leather garments. The person kneeling in the same manner towards the flaming sword, but for some reason… something seemed off about it Naruto felt as if the person wanted to take the flame for their own. For what purpose Naruto didn't know.

'That was rather strange.' He thought as his eyes kept switching back and forth to the two murals. 'Really wonder what these are going on about.' He sighed in frustration while scratching his golden locks. 'Should probably take these as well and find out what they're about later. If I don't then it's gonna bug the hell out of me until Kami knows when.'

Forming yet another clone, the pair climbed up the walls and carefully took down the murals and placed them on the floor. Each slowly rolled up the murals with great care as anything done wrong could damage them completely. A story was being told in each one and it'll be a waste if both murals were destroyed and ruined, causing said stories to be lost.

After sealing up the murals, Naruto and his clone made their way out of the hidden art gallery and carefully closed up it's entrance before the chakra construct disbursed. As he turned around, Naruto jumped a little when seeing the clone he made earlier standing right behind him.

"What the hell, man!" Hissed the original. "Why didn't you disburse instead of scaring me?"

"Sorry, boss. But I just got here." Said the clone as he held out his hand where a set of keys laid. "Took a while, but I found these from one of the guards. Had to double check on the others, but this was just the only set."

The real Uzumaki nodded as he took the keys before he disbursed his clone in order to get the small influx of memories to get a better layout on what to expect once outside. The full number of the guards patrolling the home with what other types of security and arsenal they had. Not that it matters as none would be able to get to him once he escapes the premises.

'Time to see what these are gonna be for then.' Was the thought as Naruto moved out of the training room and went to the rest of the floor.

He inspected most of the rooms and didn't find much like the floor below. There were a few rooms locked, making him glad to have the keys now. One locked room was not all that great as it lead towards a wine cellar, mostly used for the merchant prince's private use. Another key was towards a set of bedrooms which were hardly touched at all. It was odd when seeing this, but guessed it was just for security reasons.

With those out of the way, Naruto used one of the last two and opened a room that he quickly realized was the Daaren Ahraris' private office, located on the mansion's top floor.

A smile graced Naruto's face. 'Score.' He walked towards the desk and walked around it before inspecting it. 'The evidence I'm looking for could be in here.' He pulled on one of the drawers… only to find it stuck. 'More like locked. Either way gotta open it...' Taking out the last pilfered key, Naruto inspected if it would fit with the locks. Yet the key was too big for it, causing him to silently huff in annoyance. 'Daaren must have a different set and kept on his person.' Standing up, he scratched his head. 'Either that or hidden them… and maybe I could find other stuff in here if it's not just kept in his desk.'

With the new task set, the Uzumaki explored the office and checked to see if there was something amiss that could get him to find the evidence and keys quickly. There wasn't much in what he found as things were rather standard at best, even if the decor was a little better to spice up the room… yet it still matched the designs he saw on the first floor.

Upon checking the bookcase, he saw the spines of a series of books as they were old in some way and partially worn out on what he could tell were the much older ones. Curious as to what they are, he picked off one of the oldest ones and saw the leather cover having an imprint of a three-headed dragon set in some circular design.

Tilting his head, interested curiosity slowly grew as to what this was. Opening the cover, he saw a few blank pages and flipped through a few before seeing a depiction of a man's handwriting.

' _Property of Aegon Targaryen. Conqueror and First High King of Westeros. The Dragon of Old Valyria.'_

Naruto blinked a little before rereading the little entry again. Having a feeling what it was, he flipped through the pages and stopped at a random spot before reading.

' _Gods… I wished I didn't have to deal with King Harren today and end his line. But I had no choice. He refused to surrender and bend the knee to me. His hubrus got the better of him as he signed his death sentence. He was right as the stone of his mighty castle didn't burn… but he forgot that with dragonfire, his home became an oven…'_

Closing the book, he quickly grabbed another from the shelf and opened at a random section.

' _...I consider this bit of our conquest the easiest so far. Convincing the young mountain king of the Vale to hand over his crown for the chance to ride Vhagar was too was too good to pass up! And sure~ Ronnel's queen mother, Sharra, was against the offer as her son had all the power to give up his kingship and lands… Buuut~ with my beloved dragon staring down at her got her to back away as I flew with her son into the sky and took their royal titles with me as I departed home.'_

Naruto closed the book and grabbed one last random book as suspicion came around.

' _I swear that Toad of a Dornish woman was unnerving as fuck. All I wanted out of her was to surrender Dorne to my brother, sister and I. But nooo~ she was a stubborn woman… which I oddly respected. Even with my dragon, Meraxes, staring right down on her, she didn't shift, she didn't break or even anything else. Only sitting in her comfy little chair as she refused my offer. I promised I'd come back to Dorne with Fire and Blood… but she said that she and her people will forever be unbowed, unbent, unbroken…"_

"Well this a quite a surprise." Naruto muttered as he closed the third book before looking at the others on the bookshelf. "No doubt I'm taking these."

Placing the journal of Rhaenys Targaryen down on the desk, alongside the ones for Aegon the Conqueror and Visenya their shared sister, Naruto grabbed any other journal he found that bore the Targaryen sigil as he could tell Oberyn would want to read these

Just when he took out the last of the royal journals -which resulted in a quite the large pile- the Uzumaki saw a small indent into the bookshelf that was covered by the little book owned by Aegon the Unlucky. He would've missed it if it wasn't for the moonlight breaching through the window. Reaching towards it, his fingertips felt it and pressed it before hearing a soft *click*. Moving back a little, he wondered what he just did causing him to look around the piece of furniture.

Moving to the side, he saw some odd coloration that didn't match the wall's coloring.

'What do we have here?'

Carefully pulling the bookshelf towards him -as if like a door- Naruto saw an unusual site of seeing a vault door. The Uzumaki then looked like he hit the jackpot in some way as his mind wandered in thinking of what lies beyond the door made of…

'Steel?' He guessed before placing his hand on the surface. 'No… the feel is wrong. I wager Gama-chan's coin innards that it's stone.' He then scratched his chin. 'Odd that someone wants to use stone instead of steel for their vault door.' Blue eyes wandered around it as he tried to find the tumbler or at least a keyhole, but found none. All he found was a small indent inside the door's center. 'For a specially made key, perhaps.'

Releasing a sigh, Naruto realized he'll need to find the merchant prince now. Not just for the key to the desk drawers, but for the vault before him.

Quietly exiting the office, Naruto went to check the last room on this floor that he no doubt realized was the master bedroom. Checking the door handle, he saw it was indeed locked, getting him to pull out the last key and unlocked the door. Slowly opening it up, Naruto was assaulted by the smell of sex exiting through the new opening. Shaking his head from disgust, he peeked inside and saw the sprawled out forms of Daaren and one or two concubines. Hard to tell at first glance due to the bed sheets covering up most of their bodies.

Doing his best to ignore the smell, Naruto walked closer and closer to the bed and looked towards where the other set of keys were placed. He looked around the merchant prince's body, only to find nothing at all on his person…

What? Some people tend to wear their keys at all times!

Seeing as neither were on the confines of the bed, Naruto checked the nightstands and thanked his lucky stars they were placed on the surface farthest from his current spot. Quickly and quietly moving around the bed, he snagged the standard keys and the one key he assumed was the vault key and left the room as he closed the door.

Making it back to the office, he made a b-line towards the vault and wanted to open it right away, but he stilled himself. The shinobi wanted to get on with it and explore it's contents right away, but he had other matters to attend to.

After all, business before pleasure.

Reaching the desk once more, he used the newly acquired keys to unlock the drawers before opening them up. What he found inside were several ledgers with various other documents and books. Seeing as it'll take a bit of time to look through all of them and hopefully make out which ones he possibly needs, Naruto formed several clones and let them take on the task.

Looking back at the vault door, he wondered how the whole key detail would work out. He needed to try, thus he placed the odd shaped key into it's slot before hearing a soft *click*. The shinobi then took a guessing action by turning the oddly shaped key like any normal one. It seemed to work as he saw the small mechanism turning several other parts here and there. He did have to do it slowly as a sound was giving out and he didn't want to wake up the merchant prince with what he is doing.

After what seemed like forever, the hidden vault was opened for access.

Pulling out another paper tag, he channeled a steady stream of chakra into it as azure flames presented themselves. Not much was shown at first, but Naruto guessed he needed to go deeper in order to see the vault's contents.

Exploring the darkened space was a bit of a challenge at first until his blue eyes caught onto something shining because of the small flames. Coming in close, he saw it was some sort of gilded chalice sitting on top of a pedestal. From there, the shinobi noticed other pedestals stationed nearby, causing him to go to each and every one to see what they were. Jewelry of different sizes and styles lied about from rings, necklaces, earings, broaches, crowns, etc. set on mini-pillows and figures to display them nicely alongside other challaces.

There seemed to be a common theme with what he was seeing with each and every item he came across so far as a dragon motif was greatly present here.

'If I were to bet again, these must be Targaryen items… or at least stuff pilfered from Old Valyria… or bought from other Valyrian descendants.' He kept walking around to see each of the items with more thoughts crossing his mind. 'These must've costed quite a fortune for practically each of them. Either that or the guy stole and killed for them.'

He briefly wondered why the art gallery he went into earlier wasn't placed in here. There practically enough space to fit all of those statues and idols with room to spare for crying out loud! But given these items before him were more valuable than those in the art gallery, Naruto could give Daaren the slight excuse in doing so.

Either that or the previous residents had secretly stored all of the _finer_ and exotic items in that hidden room and both the merchant prince and family was none the wiser of its existence.

And seeing as these Valyrian trinkets were not being truly appreciated in being seen outside of this vault, Naruto decided to add these to the list of items he's pilfering tonight.

By the time he sealed up the last of the vault's contents, leaving it empty except for the pedestals, pillows and figurines, did he gain an influx of memories from his clones with their tasks completed. They were indeed able to find quite a lot of information that could serve as evidence for Daaren's arrest with whatever sentence he'd deserve afterwards.

Most of the ledgers indeed contained what money and goods flowed in and out of the man's pocket. Naruto doesn't know what laws are kept in Volantis, so whatever information his clones looked at went through their eyes and went back out. Kinvara would definitely know more than he ever could and he hoped something significant will catch her eye from those pages.

And then were the merchant prince's personal journal. More information definately lied within those pages than the ledgers, or so the shinobi thought. He didn't get much as his clones skimmed through a good portion of things, but there were indeed some info that could indeed get him into a lot of trouble in the public eye.

For instance, him torturing and killing low-born children; whether they were freed or not. It didn't matter to Daaren as he was above them and he could do whatever he wanted with them in some secret dungeon at some separate property.

This disgusted Naruto greatly and he wanted to kill the man for what he did. But he could tell Kinvara will do a worse punishment to the man than he could ever do.

'At least me liberating him of all of his most precious valuables here would be a good starting point.' Was Naruto's thought before he sealed up all of the office desk's contents and the Targaryen journals. 'I've got all the dirt I need, so I best clean up and get going.'

The Uzumaki did one last look around in the office before he closed and locked up the drawers and vault in order to make it seem as if he was never here. And once putting the office and vault keys back in their rightful place, Naruto went back throughout the residence, lock up each of the doors and double checked what else he could steal from the man as he could have overlooked something earlier.

All he lastly took was the wine cellar contents as it might be something Oberyn, Ellaria and the ship crews would enjoy having. And in the end, nothing else came up for his recheck; thus he started to get ready to leave quickly as he came.

Moving down the hall he came into earlier, Naruto looked through the window to see if the coast was clear for his exit. Waiting several moments for the guards to pass before crawling his way out before landing onto the ground and hiding behind walls and corners. As he would make his departure, he looked around to noticed that the guards were just splitting up again in pairs… as they were intently looking at the ground.

'Seems they've just noticed their boss' keys have gone missing.' Chuckled the shinobi before placing the keys -teeth first- into the ground before lightly stepping on it sinking slowly into the earth. Now he can leave without worrying about any loose ends.

While it was a bit odd that keys would fall off like that, it'll be there problems and he will be long gone from here, before they even realize their master's stuff was gone and beyond his reach.

 _ **-The inn-**_

The offworlder let out a sigh of relief as he entered his rented room with his eyes landing on the bed. It's been a long day and he wanted to finally relax and be well rested for tomorrow's trip.

After vacating the Black Wall, Naruto pumped chakra through his system in order to make it back to the inn as fast as he could. Along the way, he stopped by the marketplace and took a large bag from one of the shops in order to put all of the evidence he took in there. The shinobi didn't want the High Priestess to know of his chakra abilities and merely returning there without anything on him would make things rather odd.

This also meant he couldn't show up at the temple for the rest of the night as returning there now would merely raise questions.

Getting back to the Red Temple too soon would draw some unwanted attention, questions might rise up and answers sought after the Uzumaki didn't want to give. So returning in the early morning would become a more plausible cover for him as he would've been tired from the night before and whatnot.

'While I'm there, I better give Rhae a proper farewell.' He thought before plopping himself onto the bed.

There is no doubt in his mind she'd miss him as he was possibly one of the only few friends she ever has. And as much as he oddly thought of it, he'd probably miss her as well. If he could send messages to her in order to cheer her up from Dorne or wherever else he'd be traveling to, he could if only to help lift her spirits.

Not knowing what to really do now, Naruto rolled over and stared up towards the ceiling. He needed something to take his mind off of current moments. A way to eventually tire himself out before finally falling asleep.

'Maybe a good read is in order.'

Hoisting himself back up off the bed, he went towards the nightstand and pulled out a match in order to light up several candles. Once lighting up several that gave him sufficient light in order to properly read, he got back to his bed and unsealed the old tome from Valyria. And from there, he went towards the placement he was previously at from earlier.

"Yadda yadda yadda, getting chopped in half." He winced when remembering that little detail as he was too drawn into the reading, which got him to freak out on Talisa. "Wonder if this is merely a short story with how the man died or if something else is going on."

Seeking this out, he started reading where he left off.

 _Darkness… All the knight saw was darkness._

 _He didn't know how he got here as he remembered that large, grotesque demon slicing him in two. And the pain he felt was too real to lie about._

 _Was he dead? He had to be as he could never recover from what he was dealt with._

" _Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel."_

 _The knight was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a woman's voice. It was familiar, but from where?_

" _Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended."_

 _He remembered now! It was the same voice he heard when traversing the Fog! But question was: how is he hearing her now?_

 _"Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel. Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended… So the world might be mended."_

 _Upon the last word spoke, the adventurous knight felt something odd creeping over his body. It was truly hard to describe on what he was feeling. It was as if his body was slowly warmed up from his core to everywhere else. Yet at the same time it felt cool as he felt pins and needles slowly fade away from all over._

 _Next thing he knew was the darkness fading away from his vision as he saw light._

" _Where… Where am I?" He groaned out, slowly bringing his hand towards his head._

" _This is the Nexus." Spoke a woman, causing the man to search for the source. "It holds together the northern land of Boletaria."_

 _His search had ended as his blurry eyes landed upon a woman of untold beauty. Her rich, raven hair reached towards her jawline as her semi-wild hair framed her slim face. Her dress appeared to be blackened wraps covering from her wrists to right above her breasts as it reached down towards her mid-calf. A shall-like cape was draped over her shoulders in similar, matching colors along with her neck choker with a pendant hanging around her neck._

 _She wore no footwear and carried a long staff in her hand. He quickly wondered why until his eyes looked more into her face. There he saw parts of her face were burned away, stealing away her ability to see everything around her._

 _The fallen knight then blinked, registering the previous spoken words before the Maiden in Black spoke again. "Thou canst not exit the Nexus, just yet. If doest want, thou must speak with the Monumental."_

" _...Who… and where is this person?" He questioned while many others filled his head._

 _The blind maiden merely pointed above them. "The Monumental awaits thee there and will explain why you're here."_

 _The knight slowly nodded before getting back up onto his feet._

 _Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of mystical temple as the main light source was coming from odd glowing glyphs and runes floating around the area. It helped light up the structures that decorated the somewhat darkened temple as there were depictions of kings, knights and warriors of many kinds._

' _Enough of that now. I must find this Monumental the Maiden spoke about.'_

 _Finding a whirling set of stairs nearby, he ascended them through the many levels this Nexus had to offer. And it was quite easy for him to be lost in this place. As much as he'd like to fully explore this place and familiarize himself with it, he needed to quickly find the man who could give him the answers he sought after._

 _After what felt like forever, he found the Monumental in question. He would've mistaken him for one of the many dead monks set in a meditative form if it wasn't for several candles burning around his body._

" _Are you the Monumental the Maiden in Black spoke about?"_

 _The monk nodded and spoke in a soft, child-like voice. "We have long awaited you, slayer of Demons."_

 _The knight blinked in confusion from underneath his helm. "You have?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Why do you call me 'Slayer of Demons'? I haven't slain any in my life."_

" _You are called as such as your destined to do so."_

 _Knowing this wasn't going anywhere, a question was voiced from his lips. "And what is it that you do?"_

 _"I help preserve the fabric of reality." Answered the Monumental, merely giving him more questions than answers. "Before you ask anything of me, please hear me out. There is something thou needst to know."_

 _Seeing as he didn't have anything else to do now, he slowly sat down on the ground and gave the monk his undivided attention._

" _Once my fellow Monumentals and I were a scourge of Demons faced." The young Monumental breathed in deeply as he explained his tale. "In the distant past,  
under a benevolent rule the world was united, owing to the Soul arts. That was until a lust for power caused the awakening of the Old One. And across the land seeped a colourless Deep Fog, and the world faced extinction at the hands of the Demons."_

 _The monk looked into the unknowing space behind the knight as if he was in a trance. "Thanks be, we were able to lull the Old One back to Its slumber, yet only after the loss of innumerable souls, and half the world, lost… erased by the fog."_

A knock got Naruto out of his reading. Blinking, he shook his head and saw the candles he lit had gone down several inches with wax building up along the sides and bottoms. This made him wonder how long he'd been reading.

Hearing knocking at the door once more, Naruto bookmarked the book and closed it before speaking out. "Yes? Who is it?"

The door to his rented room opened up to reveal Oberyn. "I was wondering when you'd get back, Naruto. Would've thought you were going to gone longer."

Placing the book aside, Naruto responded back. "Well here I am."

"I can see that." Closing the door behind him, the Dornish prince walked a bit closer to the bed as the young lad shifted on the mattress to face him better. "Had some fun exploring the Black Wall?"

"It was an experience."

"Ah, so not much."

"I wouldn't say that, Oby-san. I merely found it rather rewarding in the end."

Confusion soon arose within the Viper. "What did you do? Did you pull some pranks to the slavers over there?"

"Just on one slaver. And the guy deserved with what I pulled. But if I had my pranking gear on me, I would've done much worse."

This merely confused Oberyn more on what went on.

Seeing this, Naruto decided to elaborate most of what he did and saw at the merchant prince's home as there seemed to be no harm in doing so. Though he didn't speak about his reason in going there in the first place. Only lying that he went there as a random target along with not telling the prince on the child slaughtering bit as he'd get justice via Red Temple.

Throughout the tale, Oberyn was silent as he didn't want to interrupt one bit. He was rather impressed with how Naruto was able to sneak in and out of the man's home without being spotted and wondered what Daaren's reaction will be like once daybreak happens.

At its end was when he first spoke. "So what did you take from there, exactly?"

"Quite a lot of things." He held up his hand and pulled down his fingers as he listed off each one. "There was a statue, a bunch of extremely expensive Valyrian jewelry, lots of journals-" Naruto then felt his stomach growl, which was loud enough for Oberyn to hear.

"Heh. Seems you deserve a proper meal after what you pulled tonight."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Walking towards the door, the viper spoke. "We can tell me more at the dining hall alongside Ellaria. I feel she'd be rather interested as well."

"I bet." The shinobi stood up and walked towards the washroom. "I'll meet you two there. I gotta freshen up a bit."

"Don't take too long."

Seeing Oberyn exit the rented room, Naruto made his way to relieve and clean himself up. Once entering the space, he was about to use the privy until he saw the dried up stain of the oily black substance he found off of-

"The box." He muttered before reaching into his pouch and pulled out the the oily box he wrapped up in the cloth. "Almost forgot about ya."

Unwrapping the material, he saw the substance had smeared against the cloth. It was ruined now with the black stains, but it'll help out more in the coming cleaning process.

Naruto poured water from the nearby pitcher into a bowl used to wash one's hands and face. He didn't pour too much as he didn't know how long this was going to take and waste the water. Once having a sufficient amount in the bowl, Naruto dunked the object into the water before he stated scrubbing away.

Bit by bit, the oily black goo came off of the hand-sized box. He didn't know how long it was taking him as the task seemed time consuming. The process took so long the water was dyed black, causing Naruto to wonder if he needed to switch it out to continue cleaning it.

That wasn't the case as his fingers felt small indents along the box's surface, making him pull out the object to see it's possibly cleaned surface.

"Wait a second." He blinked several time and turned the box all over before widening his blue eyes in recognizing the designs. "Why the hell are there sealing tags here?!"

It looked much like the ones he recognized from back home, except that the writing seemed very ancient, alongside the box's initial material. He barely made out a few characteristics depicting life and death while the rest was hardly readable. Either because of the oily substance or time.

Grabbing the stained rag, Naruto dried off the moisture before inspecting the tags a little more. "These gotta be used to lock something up in here."

Question was, but what? A small weapon? A key or something very valuable? Or something dangerous? Millions of ideas ran through his head, causing his curiosity to win over in wanting to open it.

'If I remember it right with these kinds of seals, either drawing up the proper key or overpowering it are the only means in getting past them.' He thought with a narrowed glance as his fingers traced over the scribed tags. 'Time to get this over with before it annoys me later.'

Placing both hands onto the box, he focused much of his chakra onto its surface. He started to sweat as his body started to strain. He didn't know what was put into these seals as they were draining him with almost all of his chakra as all he got were tiny blue flames forming on the tags.

It got to the point that he subconsciously drew the Kyuubi's chakra and poured it alongside his own. With chakra dangerously low, the seal on his stomach pulled much of his tenant's power in order to keep the Uzumaki alive.

Was it worth it in order to open a single container?

'No clue.' Was the thought as he was brought onto his knees with sweat running down his face. 'But there's no way in hell I'm stopping-'

Suddenly the flames quickly consumed the box, causing the shinobi to drop the container. As it clattered on the ground, parts of the tags were chipped and peeled off as they turned to ash.

Once the flames died out, Naruto blinked several times as he tried to control his breathing and heart rate. "Damn… that was intense." He muttered out before slowly reaching towards the box. "Time to see what's inside of this thing."

Pulling the lid off, he saw- "Why the hell is there a women's hand in here?"

 _ **-End Chapter-**_

 **Toad Stone: Originated from the Isle of Toads, one of the Basilisk Isles, is an idol worshiped by the fish-like inhabitants living there. Due to popular believe, but the nearly twelve-foot isn't the only idol coming from there as it's the smallest compared to the forty-foot high one.**

 **Measurements and amounts aside, the toad idols were made by a now forgotten -possibly extinct- race. Used for worship by the island's inhabitants and their descendants, but their true purposes are unknown.**

 **Murals of Winter and Ash: Ancient tapestries telling stories that have become long forgotten or hidden for one's purpose. Fictional or actual history is up for interpretation. But there's more to the artworks that meets the eye.**

 **Journals of Targaryen Royals: Series of collected, written history written by the kings, queens and future heirs to the Iron Throne of Westeros. Done by their respective hands to give their own accounts in the past. History is often written by the victor, but often forgets there's more to it as individuals know the full story of things.**

 **AN:**

 **You know the whole speel on why I haven't updated sooner. Work has been a pain in the past weeks with an influx of orders with lack of employees. Not fun and got to the point that I felt unmotivated in writing due to exhaustion. And during X-Mas weekend, I was visiting family out of my home state and I was hardly on my laptop as a result.**

 **Though I have somewhat worked in the story along that time by reading the new George R.R. Martin book: Fire and Blood. It's a pretty good read as it's much like his version of the Silvermarillian by Tolkien as it focuses on events of the Targaryen family from Aegon the Conqueror to first half of Aegon the Unlucky's life. This also brought up the fact that there will be like two more books on this type of theme and I can't wait to read them.**

 **Now a detail I wanted to bring up is stuff pertaining religion and politics. It's honestly a complicated can of worms, moreso in the world of ASoIaF/GoT. It's corrupt, no matter what as people keep seeking out more and more power.**

 **For instance in Westeros, the Andal Faith of the Seven is really bad. Many priests fall into their lustful temptations when they've swore to celibacy. Not just that but they take too many bribes. And when the Andals came to Westeros, they cut down many Weirwood trees from below the Neck, thus fucking them over as it would lead to later complications.**

 **And the Faith Militant, do I need to say more?**

 **Over in Esoss, sure religion takes a more prominent role as it does make a big influence in respective governments. With the Dothraki, their government is practically their religion with what they believe in and practice everyday. In Pentosi customs, there's the whole messed up bit with killing their princes whenever something bad happens and replace a new one each and every time.**

 **If religious stuff doesn't take a full prominent role in most governments, there's the detail of having someone come over and influence a person of power to follow certain things. Like Thoros of Myr assigned to get close and convert Robert Baratheon to the R'hllor faith. It was due to their shared hobbies and interests, yet Thoros abandoned that task as it wouldn't really work.**

 **Melisandre -on the other hand- was pretty successful when corrupting Stannis so nothing else could be talked about there.**

 **And a fact to bring up in the story background, Maegor the Cruel was supposed to marry the Septon's relative to have better ties to the Andal church. But he said 'fuck that' and married someone else, thus causing a lot of problems with his big polygamous marriage in hopes of having a male heir.**

 **Made me think of what stuff happened in The Tudors and the real life events the show took inspiration from with King Henry VIII's crazy reign.**

 **Putting these facts aside, I hope this chapter turned out well for y'all! First chapter of 2019 and I hope to write up my chapters a whole lot faster than last year. Who's to say for sure as everything can be rather unexpected.**

 **Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!**

 **R &R**


	6. Welcome to Dorne

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, SoulsBorne or Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

 _Writing/Singing_

 _"Foreign Language/Flashback"_

 _ **-Scene Shift-**_

 **Chapter 6: Welcome to Dorne**

Upon the open waters of the Summer Sea, the Sea Snake and Blackened Bastard were on their way towards Planky Town -the main port city of Dorne- after it's twenty-four day trip from Meereen; which included the week traveling from Volantis. There have been some non-breeze days, causing some delays on not sailing along the way, but the entourage adapted with what they could to eliminate their boredom. Either from gambling, reading, fishing or anything at all to pass the time until the wind started to pick up.

And when the winds picked up, they picked up hard to _somewhat_ make up for lost time.

With Naruto, he had lots to do during this time in preparing himself for their arrival. From training a little bit more alongside Oberyn and Ellaria, due to them wanting to be more adjusted with their Valyrian steel weapons, to learning most of Westeros' and Dorne's history that wasn't provided via hard copy books/tomes. Like for instance hearing the oral history of Dorne's ruling house and some of it's serving houses, which seemed to peak his interest the most: Houses Dayne, Manwoody, Yronwood, and Uller.

With Uller, it's the house Ellaria comes from with her being the bastard daughter of Lord Harmen Uller. With Manwoody, they're always the first line of defense for the Dornish people from invading forces coming from up north. Yronwood have been the Martell's main rivals for years and would oppose them during any civil war in hopes of toppling their seat in Dorne. And the Daynes, with their legendary meteorite sword Dawn that supposedly rivals Valyrian steel.

There's also the fact that in terms of military strength and might, Dorne is arguably equal to both the North and the Vale.

Asides from the lessons, today's the supposed day when the ships will finally arrive at Dorne and Naruto was anxious to finally get off of the ships and onto dry land so far into the trip. He did complain at first on why they couldn't just dock at Sunspear -the capital of Dorne itself- since it's where Oberyn and Ellaria currently live at and saves several hours of traveling. But during his lessons the other day, Naruto learned that Dorne has a very rocky coastline with few natural harbors.

Hence Planky Town functions as the region's main port.

With nothing else to do until then, Naruto laid down by the smaller ship's bowsprit as he looked up at the clouds above with the ancient Valyrian tome across his lap. He reflected on his experience so far in this past month.

Dealing with Sasuke's defection and the whiskered blonde ending up killing the brooding bastard before ending up in this world, somehow. Winding up on Old Valyria before eventually befriending and traveling with Oberyn and Ellaria. And that all took place before arriving in Meereen where he learned how to reforge Valyrian steel and the whole fighting pit incident.

Then there was the stuff which occured in Volantis last week.

Meeting up with the healer-in-training, Talisa, and the blind priestess in red, Rhae, on separate occasions and becoming good acquaintances with them as an end result. Not to mention doing the one job/favor for the High Red Priestess, Kinvara. And even though he didn't get much of a reward from her -which he didn't really mind- the Light of Wisdom owed him a favor. Naruto didn't know when he'd cash it in, but he considered it a good asset for later use.

And while he was at the Red Temple the morning of his departure towards Dorne, he also said his farewells towards Rhae. She was saddened on him leaving her, much like what he thought the previous night. He wasn't exactly leaving her, but he hoped they could see each other again at a later day.

This made the visually challenged teen feel slightly better. Not much, but it was a start.

Seeing her saddened mood, Naruto gave her a promise that once he's in Dorne, he'd send her a letter so they could at least try to keep in touch with each other. Rhae appreciated it, but of course she'll need her mother figure's help with the back and forth messaging by reading and writing her letters to him. The shinobi understood the problem with this and was fine on what help Rhae needed so they could stay in contact.

...These weren't the only things that occured since visiting Volantis. In fact, one lead onto the other as the result of raiding the merchant prince's home. Sure the items he partook from that place were quite… _interesting_ in their own right; from the Valyrian jewelry and Targaryen journals, the toad statue and murals, and all the coin and jewels Daaren possessed in his vault.

But the one that stood out the most was the box he unsealed.

 _ **-Flashback, Last Week; Volantis Inn-**_

 _"Why the hell is there a women's hand in here?"_

 _With the hand-sized lid in his one hand, the other held the now opened box to see the most unusual thing he never expected to find in there. Upon first glance, he thought the severed right hand was of skin and bone with the joint several inches above the wrist showing it's fleshy innards. Much less seeing the hand decomposing inside the container for Kami-knows how long._

 _But to his surprise, he found none._

 _The shinobi picked up the hand off of the silky white cushion it situated itself in and gave a careful inspection of it. It was very pale in color, practically porcelain-white with how frail and delicate it appeared to be. Naruto even thought the skin actually was porcelain with how silky smooth and soft it was. Even the nails were nicely done with them trimmed. And upon a closer look, Naruto saw there were faint markings along each of the finger parts and even in its palm and wrist._

' _Looks like a prosthetic hand.' He noted upon the faint *clinking* he heard with each motion he made. 'Well more like a work of art than what I've seen before; like a doll?'_

 _Naruto had seen a handful of people having prosthetics -or artificial limbs- back in the Elemental Nations. This was due to them losing certain limbs either out on the field or something else that wasn't shinobi related. And they were commonly wooden or metal in appearance._

 _He surprisingly helped make a few metal ones from legs and arms, which both reached up the limbs to certain degrees… well… not the entirety on the more complex ones but just all of the assembled parts. Those were rather expensive as they needed to be durable and functioning once put together._

 _The shinobi even saw several during the Chunin Exams with people coming from Suna having more unique prosthetics. He asked Gaara's brother, Kankuro, about them after the failed Sound/Sand Invasion and the puppet-nin said the puppet concept held interest with most amputee chakra users. Not wanting to be forced into retirement, they had their artificial limbs specially made as they needed to connect their chakra into the parts with utmost precision in order to move them as if they were naturally apart of themselves._

 _Naruto was brought out of his musings when he heard a soft rattle sound. He looked around and wondered where it came from before staring right back at the feminine hand._

 _Click~!_

 _Yet the moment he did, his blue eyes had taken a hollow appearance...why? Simple… the doll-like hand suddenly grabbed Naruto's face and moved as if it was alive._

" _...HOLY FUCKING SHIT! IT'S POSSESSED!" He bellowed in fright as he instantly tried prying off the hand from his face. But to no avail as it was surprisingly strong with the given lack of arm muscles. "GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OOOOFFFFF!"_

 _Naruto tumbled out of the bathroom and smacked his head into a nearby wall, leaving quite the crack on its surface. Falling onto the ground soon after, he landed on his back and started rolling all around the rented room with each second spent in ridding this sentient hand off of his face. And this ended as he collided into the bed posts… where the feminine hand soon patted Naruto's head in a soothing manner._

" _Are you alright, Naruto?!" Came Oberyn's voice as he and Ellaria barged into the room. "We heard-"_

 _In an instant, the slender hand flung itself from Naruto's head and flew across the room and aimed right towards the pair where quite the girlish scream was heard soon after…_

 _And it didn't_ just _come from Ellaria._

 _ **-Flashback End-**_

Naruto couldn't help but contain his small bit of laughter upon remembering the memory. 'I'm never gonna live that down on how funny that was after I realized _who_ it came from.'

The shinobi soon felt something small scurry up his leg. Looking down, he saw the sentient hand crawl onto the book lying on his lap. Seeing as his attention was on it, the slender thing soon lied down on the cover's surface.

"You bored as well, Handy?"

The sentient right hand moved it's index finger up and down as if seemingly nodding.

He sighed. "Figured. Being cooped up in my bunk or Oby-san's and Ella-san's cabin and not doing much could do that." Naruto then heard some tapping on his book, drawing his attention back to Handy who went into a position as if wanting to hold a pen. "Got something to say?"

Handy gave him another 'yes'.

Fetching the slender hand his notebook and a pencil, he lied them onto his book where Handy soon wrote in it.

" _Ellaria and Oberyn wanted to take a break from reading those Targaryen journals again and I didn't want to end up being being used as a_ toy _when they were about to get more…_ intimate _."_

Naruto cringed a little before patting Handy's top in order to comfort it. "Sorry to hear that."

A small explanation is in order.

After the fit of… _excitement_ that occured in Naruto's rented room, which resulted in the space being trashed, things slowly calmed down. The atmosphere was still a little tense with Naruto sitting on the bed with the sentient hand named Handy -Naruto's odd name for it- lying on his lap… with the Dornish couple sitting a comfortable distance away in case of anything. An explanation was in order as to where Handy came from; thus Naruto went into small detail about the sealed up box with how he found it and how he opened it.

Seeing as they might be staying in the one room longer than they should, Oberyn quickly ordered some food to brought here. The prince didn't want to end up causing a commotion with those downstairs if Handy was brought out into the open.

It should be noted that over the trip back to Dorne did the three warm up to the sentient, doll-like hand in varying degrees; more so Naruto than the Dornish couple.

As they waited, Naruto decided to bring out what items sealed from the merchant prince's home; asides from the documents he planned to give to Kinvara in the following morning.

Oberyn and Ellaria were surprised to see what exactly their young friend took as it was quite the haul, asides from the small fortune consisting of coin and jewels. The Dornish prince never thought he'd see another Toad idol again as they've only been seen inside of the Basilisk Isles. The mural-like tapestries were quite interesting to behold as his inner maester slowly analized what he could see upon first glance at the ancient artwork while his paramour merely appreciated their unique beauty. The couple then gave the same responses upon seeing many pieces of Valyrian jewelry; even more so with them being made of Valyrian steel.

Yet several pieces of Naruto's treasure trove got Oberyn to look upon them in utmost shock with questions quickly arising in his very being; with him realizing _what_ they were.

Each of them shared a common theme upon first glance as they were coronet crowns. They weren't forged out of Valyrian steel, which made them stand out from the rest of the jewelry. Yet their worth could possibly make them equal that of the infamous steel.

The first crown was made of bronze with the main design having stag antlers sticking out of the front. The next was a simple golden crown with nothing truly standing out in the carved designs around the band, all except for the lion emblem set into the front. The third was created out of iron with sword-like prongs pointing upwards with a wolf's head emblem placed in the only open gap of the crown. And the last was out of silver with a decent sized pearl imbedded in the center with a connecting pair of silver wings being unfurled upwards.

" _Naruto."_

" _Yes?"_

" _Do you know what these are?"_

" _Eh… no. Not really. But they seem rather important with the tone I'm hearin' from ya."_

" _They are. For these are the royal crowns of Westeros… before Aegon's Conquest."_

This bit of info surprised Ellaria greatly as Naruto merely looked in awe.

The crowns worn by Houses Durrandon, Lannister, Stark and Arryn were last held by their respective kings before Aegon and his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, came knocking at their doors. After their respective forms of surrender, each family was forced to part with their royal crowns as Aegon and his sisters took them with as they soon ruled over them.

Though there were a few missing from this _little_ collection.

For starters, House Nymeros Martell never surrendered to House Targaryen all those years ago so there was no crown. Besides, there was exactly no crown to begin with as neither the Martell ancestors or Nymeria of Rhyone believed in wearing crowns to show their authority.

Putting the Dornish royals aside, the other crowns belonging to House Hoare of the Iron Islands and House Gardner of the Reach were destroyed via dragonflame. With the Driftwood Crown, it was burned along with it's last wearer King Harren Hoare over at Harrenhal and as for the Crown of Spring, it melted on top of the head of King Mern IX Gardner as he died in the Field of Fire. And if one looked at this -in a morbid fashion- the destruction of both crowns symbolized the deaths of the respective family lines as no one else of said Houses would ever rule again.

After the reveal, Naruto suggested that he should give the crowns back to their respective families. Explaining that since the Targaryen family is no longer in power, there's no point in holding onto them or whatever as it should be the right thing to do.

" _The idea sounds good and all, Naruto. But it's not that simple, I'm afraid."_

" _How so?"_

" _I'm mostly concerned about the Lannisters and Baratheons if I'm being honest here. They are currently in power -more so with the Lannisters- and I don't want to see their egos inflate more than they should. Not just that, but I really don't like them with how they treated our family at the end of Robert's Rebellion with the death of Elia and her children by not doing the right thing and killing the Mountain for his crime."_

 _Naruto nodded as he somewhat understood Oberyn's feeling with the crowns towards the respective families. "Then what about the Arryns and Starks?"_

" _I have no qualms with the Starks. They've suffered practically as much as we've had when Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna Stark which lead to the deaths of Rickard and Brandon Stark which started the Rebellion. Not just that, but Eddard Stark shares my same thoughts pertaining the Mountain as the mad dog should've died for his actions. So if you want to give back their Crown of Winter, I say go ahead."_

" _And the Arryns?"_

 _Oberyn gave a 'so-so' gesture. "I'm debating about them. Jon Arryn is an honorable man and does have some of my respect. But since he's working as Robert's Hand I have a hard time thinking he should get his family's crown back. Not to mention what I've heard about his wife and son."_

" _Like what?"_

" _Lysa Tully nee Arryn, for one, is a very peculiar fish as she's quite unhinged in the passing years. For instance, she's been doting her son, Robin, far too long which made him very susceptible and childish. So much so that I fear once Jon passes on, the noble House of Arryn will no longer be great with Lysa tarnishing the family line by her actions. And if you were to give them back their ancestral crown, Lysa would no doubt make things worse. As to how, I wouldn't know for sure."_

Naruto understood the facts and implications to some degree. They were merely Oberyn's perspective and he can't fully on them pertaining the crown situation as he doesn't have the full picture. It was the Uzumaki's choice in the end if he'd want to give back the crowns or not.

After the crown discussion, Naruto brought up the last items he obtained: the Targaryen journals.

This quickly took the Dornish couple's attention as neither thought there were real or not. But upon reading several pages into one of the journals got their skepticism out of the window. They found the entries pertaining Dorne fascinating from Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives' perspective along with Daeron II Targaryen and his wife Mariah Martell.

The only ones missing from this journal collection pertained Aerys the Mad King, his sister-wife Rhaella and their son Rhaegar.

The Viper didn't care if he didn't get his hands on Aerys II's journal or even if there was one to begin with. He was saddened he didn't get the chance to read Rhaella's as Elia spoke highly of her. The Queen consoled her when Rhaegar didn't pay much attention to her in their marriage and many times pertaining court. Rhaella even helped raise toddler Rhaenys alongside Elia as she yearned to have a daughter of her own as all of her past ones were stillborn. For that, Oberyn greatly respected the Targaryen queen.

What did frustrate the Dornishman greatly was not getting the chance to read Rhaegar's journal.

He wanted to know the Last Dragon's thoughts pertaining his marriage to Elia and why he decided to ignore her often. Even knowing the reason why he decided to take Lyanna Stark from the Riverlands in the first place. Oberyn did know Rhaegar had a journal as Elia wrote about it one time in her rants pertaining her husband.

It was when Ellaria brought up reasonable points to not only why there aren't journals pertaining Rhaella and Rhaegar but also why the Westerosi crowns are not back inside the vault back at King's Landing.

" _Rhaella must've taken her journal to Dragonstone when Aerys sent her and Viserys away. So it could be there for all I know. As for Rhaegar, King Robert probably burned and destroyed all of Rhaegar's possessions once taking the Iron Throne. Wouldn't be surprised it was one of the first things he did on his list as king."_

 _Oberyn nodded as his paramour was right on target. Robert's hatred towards Rhaegar is unparalleled and merely seeing his enemy's possessions would only be a frustrating reminder for the Baratheon. So destroying them would be another means of Robert's revenge, even after he killed the Last Dragon._

" _But what about the crowns?" Naruto asked._

" _Robert might've had many items from the vault in King's Landing sold in order to raise coin after his Rebellion." Came her guess. "So the crowns could've been mixed in with whatever else was sold without even realizing it."_

" _Yet his ancestral, family crown was in the mix."_

" _Then the man's an idiot in not realizing what he did. His loss, your gain I suppose."_

 _There was no argument there._

Knocking himself out of his musings, Naruto looked towards the horizon and noticed a hint of land in the distance. The Uzumaki figured they were finally close to Dorne, but with how much time in reaching there he doesn't know.

So to kill the rest of his time before needing to dock and clean himself up for the meeting with Prince Doran, Naruto gently lifted up Handy and placed the sentient hand onto his head, away from his old tome before opening it at the bookmarked page and continued where he left off.

'Now where was I…'

 _...And thus King Allant was slain and the Demon Soul has been set free. The Slayer of Demons' task was finally done, but not over quite yet as his eyes landed on the Nexus within the Old One. The power radiating from it was truly intoxicating. Tempting the Slayer with it's unfathomable power offered by the Old One. As he reached out to touch it, a voice called out from behind; for it was was the Maiden in Black._

" _Thine work is done." She said as she slowly approached the Nexus. "Slayer of Demons, go back above." Walking past the knight with her staff guiding her way, the blind sorceress reached towards the wooden gateway to help steady herself. "The Nexus shall imprison thee no longer, for I shall lull the Old One back to slumber."_

 _The Black Maiden was so close to finally accomplishing her goal. Close to putting her old friend and companion back to sleep. For if she does, then both of them shall leave this world to parts unknown, through the lulling fog, and the knowledge of the Soul Arts will once again be lost. For if this happens, the lost souls will finally rest and the demons will go whence they came._

 _Just as she was about to reach towards the Nexus, a piercing pain erupted from her chest. Gasping out, with air leaving her lungs, she hunched over to 'see' what caused this. Reaching with her hands, the Blind Maiden soon felt cold steel with blood soaked upon it. But it wasn't just any blood, for it was hers._

" _W-Why?" The Maiden in Black rasped out before the sword was pulled out from her back, sending her tumbling down onto the water below. "W-Why, Slayer? Why have you done this?"_

" _For power, blind witch." Simply said the corrupted hero as he walked over the Maiden's bleeding body and reached towards the Nexus._

 _Nothing else was said from the traitor to the world as his hands soon came into contact with the Nexus, awakening the Old One from it's supposed nap. For it sensed a new and powerful Demon by its side. And before long, the world will be engulfed by the Deep Fog and change it anew._

 _With the Maiden's dying breath, she too reached towards the Nexus and fed off of its power, even if it's a good fraction of her old friend's essence. She soon felt her soul empowered, before the Slayer exploded with power and started to cover the world with the Fog. And with that, Maiden knew no more… Or so she thought._

 _Even though her body is gone, her empowered Soul survived. Yet the Maiden witnessed the world consumed by the Fog as the Age of Demons soon ended… Before a new Age began in its place. The Blind Maiden could only watch as life began anew with the essences of the Slayer and the Old One reforming into something else. To possibly fix the mistake made all those years ago with possibly the God's helping out for a change._

 _And before she knew it; the Maiden saw life on the cold, grey barren world. With the crags, arch trees and everlasting Dragons. But then, there was Fire. And with Fire, came Disparity. Heat and Cold, Life and Death, and of course… Light and Dark._

 _And with the Fire illuminating the Dark, They came, and found the Four Lost Souls of the Lords within the flame. Strengthening them, changing them into something new. The Dead reformed into one being and called himself Nito. The Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos were next to follow. And Gwyn -the Lord of Sunlight- and his ever faithful knights. But the last Soul, the Dark Soul, was claimed by the furtile pygmy and went back into the Dark to easily be forgotten…_

 _But not to the Maiden. For she remembers the essence quite well, as it's the last remnant of the tainted Slayer. Even if it's changed to eventually bring back humanity to the world._

 _With the Strength of the Lords, the Three challenged the ruling Dragons. Gwyn's mighty bolts of Lightning peeled apart their stoney scales. The Witches weaved great firestorms and Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. And an unexpected ally arose and joined the Three, Seath the Scaleless Dragon. Betraying his own kind, the dragons were all but extinct with only a fraction remaining. Hiding from the world to save their kind and their young._

 _And thus began the Age of Fire… But soon, the flames would fade, and only Dark will remain. Even now there are only embers and man sees not light, but only endless nights. And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign._

 _With that, the Maiden rose once again after so many years, so she can hopefully help the world that she once failed to do so long ago…_

"LAND HO!" A voice yelled out, knocking Naruto out of his senses and quickly looked around. In his startled moment, he fell off of his placement and onto the ship's deck face first. And Handy joined in the fall, due to the sentient hand previously resting on his head.

"Why'd you yell that out loud mate?!" One of the crewmembers yelled out towards his companion. "We already spotted it roughly two hours ago!"

"Eh, I don't know. Just glad that we finally made it to Planky Town, Marius."

"Whatever." The crewmember sighed out and he and everyone else seemed oblivious to what happened to the blonde Uzumaki. With his face onto the ship's deck, the shinobi could only groan out as he got himself off of the wooden surface with a twitch of his eye.

"Asshole." The blonde muttered out before seeing the two ships slowly dock at the city's port. 'Dammit. I need to finish getting ready.'

And with that thought in mind, he quickly picked up both his book and Handy before heading towards the lower ship areas so he could get himself cleaned up and look presentable for the eventual meeting at Sunspear.

 _ **-Planky Town -09/296 AC-**_

'Can't believe reading that passage literally ate up the rest of the time in getting here.' Naruto thought as he eyed parts of the large port city. 'I didn't even know time went so quickly… I must've really been into it to not notice anything else at all.'

Taking himself out of his musings, Naruto focused on the surrounding area as he took on the sights before him. The bazaar near the pier was all abuzz with different traders and merchants were conducting their businesses. Some were native to the land while others seemed to come from Volantis and Pentos for example with their respective city symbols above their shops.

It was quite understandable for this city to be a major hub for different businesses of other cities, due to its specific location. For the natural Dornish population, it's located at the mouth of the Greenblood river. Meaning that this city commands all river traffic in the region and its tributaries. Asides from that fact, this city is located at the southeastern tip of the entire Westeros continent. Meaning that ships passing from both the Narrow and Summer Seas tend to stop here with it being the most common stopping point.

Despite the city's size, Planky Town is one of the main trade cities in the world as varying products are sold here… Except for slavery of any sort since Planky Town is a Westerosi city and they outlaw slavery on this continent as a whole.

Naruto did question on who ruled this city since House Dalt of Lemonwood is located on the southern side of the Greenblood river, but Planky Town is on the northern side. This could -logically speaking- have the Martells rule the city with it being a short distance away from Sunspear, which is also near the coast. But Oberyn corrected this stating that as a market town, it wouldn't have any House ruling over the land.

Meaning that it's neutral ground.

"So Naruto," Oberyn spoke with a small smile on his face as he stood next to his paramour, "what do you think of this city so far?"

"It's really nice, Oby-san." The blonde shinobi responded with a smile of his own. "Reminds me of the bazaars back home."

"How so?" Ellaria questioned as she was a little curious as much as her beloved.

"Well... the Meereen and Volantis marketplaces we went to were way too crowded for starters. And there's the fact they weren't all that great, in my opinion, with slaves being the majority of the merchandise." The Uzumaki stated, getting nods from the couple. "But here, it feels a bit _cleaner_ and a bit more organized on first impressions. Though I'll need to explore this city more when I get the chance."

The couple nodded once more before eying their young companion's current attire.

Changed out of his orange/blue jumpsuit from earlier today, Naruto was currently in a set of clothing he bought himself from Volantis. Consisting of a loose, long-sleeved button up brown jacket that ended just past his waist with the sleeves rolled up a bit to show bandages wrapped around his arms. Wearing a pair of black pants, with wraps around his right leg to help hold one of his pouches, and a pair of black sandals that looked vaguely similar to his blue pair of footwear. To finish up his attire; he wore two buckled belts around his waist, with one holding another pouch, with a red and black spiral symbol sewn onto the top of his jacket sleeves and between his shoulder blades.

When asked about this, Naruto replied that it was supposedly his clan's symbol when he asked Old Man Sarutobi about it. Of course the village leader stated his clan was all but extinct, with Naruto being the only remaining member left with nothing else to supposedly inherit.

At least the whiskered blonde now knew what it was exactly and a little bit on his supposed family legacy, despite feeling there was more to be said about that.

"Do you have everything?" Oberyn asked before seeing Naruto nod his head. The shinobi pulled up a backpack, as he called it, from the ground. He made this with some materials he acquired from Volantis as it held some of his clothing and items that he wasn't going to be carrying in his sealing scrolls. "Do you also have my brother's gift?"

"Yes I do, Oby-san." The blonde answered as he soon lifted up the case in his hand. Rope was fastened on both ends so he could either slung it over his chest or carry it from the rope. "Though do you still have my forehead protector?"

The Viper nodded in response. "And I'll be handing it back once you drop off the tomes in the palace library. Maester Caleotte will do what he can to help translate them, since I think he does know High Valyrian to some degree. Though he might end up contacting the Citadel to help translate the rest."

That is unless Archmaester Marwyn arrives in Sunspear much sooner once getting his letter on what happened on his trip.

'Right… The Citadel.' Naruto thought as he walked towards some of the other entourage to make their way towards Oberyn's home.

He remembered Oberyn mentioning it back at the shrine's library and later asked about it. It was basically an academy for maesters, located inside of the largest library known to the world over in Oldtown, Reach. If none of the maesters could translate those tomes, then possibly no one will.

Reaching one part of the port city, the entourage was met with a carriage with several dozen guards who Naruto guessed came from Sunspear in order to escort them all back to the Dornish capital. Many of the ship workers helped haul their goods and supplies onto various horse drawn carts that were stationed nearby. And before Naruto went over to help them out, Oberyn spoke up to him from the opened carriage.

"You mind riding with us? There's plenty of room."

Naruto looked back and saw what the Viper offered, causing him to soon shaking his head 'no'. "As much as I'd like to ride a royal carriage, I think I'll be fine with walking."

"...You sure? It's quite a ways in getting to Sunspear."

"Oh, I'll manage."

"If you say so."

With the carriage door closed up, some of the guards placed what luggage Oberyn and Ellaria had on them in the back before signaling the coachman to head on out. As the drawn carriage took off, Naruto helped load up the rest of the carts before going after the carriage.

 _ **-Later, Sunspear-**_

There was one word to describe the entire city as a whole: massive. With the three massive Winding Walls encircling each other which contain miles of narrow alleys and bazaars. Not to mention the two noticeable towers rising above the city that are roughly 150 ft. high if the shinobi guessed it right. It was hard to tell which one was the Spear Tower, where noble prisoners are kept, and the other being the Sun Tower, where the main throne room is located.

Of course the Old Palace of Sunspear lied on the top half of the city while the lower half has been called Shadow City, due to the large amount of shade the upper half makes from blocking out most of the sun's rays. While walking through the town to get to the main grounds; Naruto noticed the mud-brick shops, stables, inns, and other forms of residences. The shinobi can clearly tell this place was quite pleasant, due to how House Nymeros Martell treats it's city's residents so they can at least be happy as a whole.

'If this place reminds me of the upper areas of Konoha.' Naruto thought as he eventually made it to the upper level of the city. 'Though I'll want to walk up one of the tower's walls to see if it's got a similar view. But I can already guess that it won't beat the one from the Hokage Mountain.'

Naruto originally thought that he, Oberyn and Ellaria would be heading towards the Sun Tower to talk to Prince Doran. But that was shut down since roughly this time of day, the elder Martell would be talking to the people on what problems need to be addressed.

So by that, Oberyn and Ellaria decided they'll have someone inform Doran of their arrival as they showed Naruto around the palace.

And the blonde admitted it looked pretty nice seeing the varied artworks and stories that went with them to help give a small visual representation on each. Eventually the small group made it towards the family gallery, where portraits of varied family members reside with the majority of them parted from this world.

One such painting Naruto saw was the reigning Princess of Dorne when Aegon's Conquest was underway; Princess Meria, the so called Yellow Toad of Dorne. She was a… pleasantly plump woman in her eighties, slightly bald and partially blind as to what was depicted in her portrait. And from what Naruto was told, it was Meria who got Dorne their independence from the rest of Aegon's conquered continent for so long due to her actions.

And it wouldn't be until years later -sometime before the First Blackfyre Rebellion- when Dorne finally joined the rest of the Westerosi Kingdoms… to actually make it the Seven Kingdoms via marriage.

"...And here is one of my favorite portraits of the gallery, my ancestor and warrior-queen, Princess Nymeria of Rhyone." Oberyn said as Naruto looked at the painted woman in front of him.

He can admit that she was quite beautiful with the dark olive skin tone, the long flowing black hair, narrow face and the dark brown eyes. But with Naruto being trained as a shinobi, he can feel the strong gaze the painted woman has and feel that she's staring right back at him, even in death.

"With the stories you told me of her, I can tell that you'd hold a lot of praise towards her, Oby-san."

"And why wouldn't I Naruto?" The Viper chuckled out as he looked at the portrait beside his paramour. "She's an inspiration to each member of my House for generations. From transporting refugees from Esoss with ten thousand ships before the eventual conquering and ruling all of Dorne as its first female ruler."

"...Question. I don't know if paint was used _this_ well roughly a thousand years ago, but was this painted after her time?"

"Actually, yes it was." Oberyn said with a nod. "Interesting fact about this painting, it was originally just a drawn portrait. It was well preserved since Nymeria didn't like the attempts of tapestries used to recreate her image. So she had herself drawn and documents written on the specific details for the portrait of what she wore and the time of day for small examples. It's so when painters were at their peak roughly 400 or so years ago, they would be brought in to start working on this. But that's when things started to go downhill.

Nobody could do the painting justice on recreating the exact scene and feel shown all those years ago. It frustrated my ancestor, Princess Meria Martell, to the point of offering a mighty sum to whoever made the painting perfect. It became an impossible task and nobody was able to make it right, even though Meria supplied the paints to help… Until she arrived."

"Who?"

The Viper could only shrug at first as he explained. "She never gave her name to anyone; claiming she was just a traveling painter. Though it was odd that she was traveling all by herself, with her appearing to be roughly a pre-teen. But take out the fact of her age as what really stood out was her appearance. From her snow white hair, that oddly complimented her ashen grey skin, to the slitted orange eyes. The child frightened a lot of people on her presence and stayed away from her, but not Meria.

The ashen child requested to paint Nymeria's portrait and seeing no harm at the time, Meria obliged until she heard what the child needed. It wasn't the paints that were provided or anything else that's easily obtained. Asides from the provided drawn portrait… the child painter requested Princess Nymeria's ashes. Meria was appalled on the request, since it would've desecrated our ancestor's remains, but the child said that it would make the painting a whole lot better in the end.

No one knows how the young painter convinced Meria to let her use Nymeria's ashes, but things turned out well in the end… somehow. The ashen girl painted a masterpiece and whenever one looks at Nymeria's portrait, they have the same feeling of the ancient Dornish queen is actually here. And when it came to collecting the reward, the child only wanted to stay at the palace for a while with only a small fraction of the intended riches for her travels since she liked to carry light. After leaving Sunspear, no one ever saw the child ever again."

Hearing this story piqued the Uzumaki's interests as he looked back at the warrior-queen's portrait. It was unique in its own right with how the challenge was set and it's end result. One child was able to accomplish what many expert painters failed to do. Of course Naruto thought it seemed too cliche of hearing a stranger showed up out of nowhere and did yadda yadda yadda. The blonde heard it many times back home, but this story seemed to work since this portrait right in front of him looked very lifelike to really help back up the supposed claim.

His thoughts ended as Naruto soon heard Oberyn talk to someone. Turning towards that general direction, the blonde saw the couple greeting a younger girl with each of them having smiles on their faces some distance away. Before Naruto could get a good look of the girl, the blonde was called over by the Sand Snake.

"Yes, Ella-san?"

"Come over here please." He obliged on the request as he walked over towards the couple with the new arrival. Once close enough, Naruto heard the paramour speak once again. "Naruto, I'd like you to meet our daughter Tyene Sand."

Looking at the girl, Tyene was roughly his age by either several months to roughly a year older than him. It was hard to tell on that fact. Asides from the age, she looked rather tomboyish with her short ravenette hair and slightly rounded face. Her semi-light brown eyes held that of a fighter, along with a mischievous nature that was obviously inherited from her parents. To finish off her appearance, she wore a yellow silk dress that was held by brown leather straps across her waist and chest that seemed to darken her olive skin tone.

"And Tyene, I'd like you to meet our young companion for the past month, Naruto Uzumaki."

Hearing this from her father; Tyene's thin, pink smile went flat as she gained a small curious look on her face. When told by her uncle, Prince Doran, to go find her parents and bring them to the throne room, she didn't expect them bringing someone with them. She can admit that the blonde teenager, who she guessed was roughly younger than her, was cute with those whisker marks of his and the snabby outfit he wore. Tyene didn't know who he was and why he was here, but when hearing her father's words left some questions in her mind.

Not wanting to delay the introduction, the young Sand Snake nodded her head towards the blonde. "It's nice to meet you, Naruto."

"Same with you, Tyene."

As the group was leaving the gallery, Naruto's eyes caught onto one particular portrait that seemed to stand out among the rest. The beautiful woman in the portrait, who Naruto guessed was roughly in her late teens/early twenties. He stopped his movements as he peered at the painting in more detail to see her wavy black hair with gentle and joyful brown eyes as she held two children on her lap. One was clearly a light skinned male infant with a truffle of silver hair and purple eyes while the second was a light olive skinned girl, no less than three years old with her black hair and purple eyes.

Naruto didn't know who this woman was, with clearly her two children, but despite it appearing to be a happy portrait it made him feel sad as he gazed at it. It confused him quite well in fact and wanted to know more about this artwork. But before he could question, Oberyn called Naruto out and told him to hurry up. Not wanting to be rude, the shinobi quickened his steps to catch up as his question on the portrait would be voiced at another time.

 _ **-Tower of the Sun-**_

'Finally.' Naruto groaned out as he and the others reached the supposed throne room entrance. 'The silence was killing me and I didn't know what to say exactly.'

On their way over to the throne room, neither person seemed to speak out loud the entire time. Sure there were the silent conversations, but that was primarily with Tyene's parents as they had spoken with their eyes and slight body movements that only they knew and understood. As for Naruto, he tried to speak several times but no words came out of his mouth. Whatever he had at the tip of his tongue seemed to quickly die out as he hopefully tried to speak with Tyene for a light conversation...

'But no~ it wouldn't happen.' He mentally sighed out. 'It's really simple to do and things would've picked up from there. But why couldn't I say anything at all?'

All other thoughts soon died out as the doors to the throne room opened, causing Naruto to peer inside. Across the room sat two people on their respective thrones, in front of a large silk curtain to block most of the sun's rays into the room. To the Uzumaki, he took in both of their features as the little group got closer.

On one throne sat a man in his late forties with classic Dornish features and primarily wore a white pair of pants and shirt with a loose orange-yellow silk jacket to help reflect his culture and somewhat help hide his slightly frail body. Having neck-length black hair with silver strands peeking out at every other spot, matching his beard, to help show his age.

On the other throne sat a beautiful mid-late teenaged woman, with her slightly dark olive skin, large dark eyes and long, thick ravenette hair that possibly reached her upper back. Covering her lush and curvaceous body were flowing silks, leather straps and jewels to make herself look similar to her ancestor -Nymeria- to some degree. With his growing body, Naruto faintly blushed and slightly looked away, causing the older teen to smirk a little with her full lips.

As Naruto averted his eyes from the sitting teenager, he caught onto the other people present in the room. There was a boy roughly Naruto's age standing not far away from the elderly looking man and figured he was his son with some similarities in appearance. From the dark curly hair and held himself proper with his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. The other two in the room wore similar attires as Tyene while smiling at their general direction, more so towards Oberyn in general. Both were in their early-mid twenties with one had long, braided hair while the other had her hair wrapped into a bun in the back.

"It's been a while, dear brother." The man on the throne said towards the Viper with a small smile. "I hope your two month trip to Meereen and back was enjoyable."

"That it has, Doran."

The now identified Doran then looked over to Ellaria, who spoke in kind towards the Dornish ruler, before turning his attention towards the odd person out in the room. "And who might you be, boy?"

Feeling all of the attention placed on him, Naruto was about to speak up when Oberyn beat him to the punch. "Brother, this is a good companion Ellaria and I have met and befriended during our travel towards Meereen. And he's quite interesting enough that we thought he could stay with us for the unseeable future."

Hearing this caused the people throughout the room to look at the blonde shinobi with a questioning look. Coughing into his hand, Doran gained back attention and spoke up. "Then I believe introductions are in order, don't you agree, Oberyn?"

Nodding in agreement, the Red Viper stepped away from Naruto and walked a little away to start things off. "Naruto, this is my older brother and the Lord of Sunspear and Dorne, Prince Doran. The lovely lady sitting next to him is my lovely niece and heir to Sunspear and Dorne itself, Princess Arianne. The lad standing by Doran is his son, Prince Trystane. And the two standing by Arianne are two of my beautiful daughters, Obara and Nymeria Sand."

Hearing the small introduction, Naruto stepped forward and gave the five people a bow before speaking up. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. It's good to meet each of you, especially you Prince Doran. I've heard a lot about you from Oby-san and Ella-san."

"Oby-san? Ella-san?" The Dornish ruler questioned with the others following similar thoughts.

Seeing the bit of confusion, the shinobi explained. "Sorry. It's just a little honorific where I come from and even though I've been grown used to not saying it much, Ellaria seems to be fine with it." Naruto then jabbed his thumb to the Viper. "Oberyn on the other hand…"

"Be lucky that you were getting more and more interesting, Naruto, or else I would've been quite offended on not giving me the respect I deserve." Oberyn responded with a joking tone.

"Respects earned, not given, Oby-san."

"Yet it's needed to be put aside on given situations, little brat."

"...Yeah, well fuck you."

"My, I didn't know you prefered that way." Came the Viper's cheeky remark, causing a massive tick mark to appear on the shinobi's forehead. "But sad to say, I don't screw with children. Come back to me in a couple of years and I might change my mind."

Back on his throne, Doran was silently mused on the banter fight happening before him. The little interaction reminded him of when he and his two siblings were children. Elia -gods bless her soul- had given her brothers small little nicknames that she usually teased them about. Strangely enough, the nickname she gave Oberyn was very much the same as the one Naruto spoke about, minus the -san bit. As for himself, Elia kept calling Doran Dory as she thought of him as a clueless fish one time.

Getting out of his thoughts, the eldest Martell in the chamber interrupted the back and forth banter. "This is interesting and all, but I'd like to get back to the matter at hand here." Turning his attention back towards the blonde teenager, Doran addressed him. "My brother hasn't mentioned a thing about you when sending me raven messages on how he was doing away from home. So I'd like to ask this question: What has brought on my brother and his paramour's interest, from you, that they'd want to bring you here to our home?"

Naruto only sighed a little as he shrugged his shoulders. "Figured you would say that." Pulling off Doran's gift from his shoulder, he walked closer to the throne.

Some of the guards present in the room had their weapons at the ready, but Doran held up his hand to hold their positions until needing to take action. Once close enough, Naruto unclasped the little locks on the case, opened it and pulled out the object to present Doran's gift.

"A cane?" The Dornish ruler questioned as both he and his family looked at some of it's details.

The cane is roughly 40 inches in length, with a metallic snake coiling around itself on the top portion with small yellow diamond eyes. The coiled snake formed a handle, roughly 6 inches in length, to help form the typical cane style while also having enough room to have it be a one handed weapon if grasping below the snake. As for the wood portion of the cane, it was intricately carved and stained in a rich red/black wood as a snake traveled upwards before it reached the metallic reptile. On both the top and bottom portions of the cane (right underneath the metal snake) had the Martell crest shown onto the metal work.

"When I heard from your brother on your gout problem, I thought that this might be a good item for you to have, Prince Doran." Naruto soon twisted the handle and seemingly pulled a sword from it's wooden sheaf to bring out a humming sound from the blade. "So I used the last of the steel of this one weapon we got and I helped make you this."

Trystane and Arianne shared a little look of awe, including their cousins and guards; while their father had a more controlled one as they looked more at the craftsmanship. The blade looked beautiful with the slight wavy textures shown before Naruto swung the cane sword a few times like any other bladed weapon. But for Doran, he noticed something peculiar about the blade and called out on it after asking to hold the blade in his hands.

"...This is Valyrian steel, isn't it?" The ruler asked, causing his children and nieces to widen their eyes slightly on the revelation. After the inspection, Doran called out to his brother with a narrowed glance. "How much money did you spend to acquire this, brother? I don't want to end up seeing the family treasury decreased when getting the sought after blade, you know."

"None actually." Came Oberyn's cheeky response. "Naruto and I fought the same opponent and we got this giant Valyrian-steel halberd in the end. And in Meereen, Naruto paid for the whole thing to get smelted down and made that for you along for one for both Ellaria and I."

"And how did you come across this?"

"Valyria." Oberyn and Naruto answered at the same time.

"...You went to Old Valyria?" Doran questioned with a slightly, heated tone causing several people to flinch a little since they rarely see the frail peaceful man be very tempermental; all due because of his gout. "Do you have any idea what goes on over there brother?! Of it's supposed terrors and habits of never letting people leave it's grounds?! Not much less Jaehaerys' law regarding that place!"

The law Doran was referring to was a royal edict made by Jaehaerys I Targaryen in the early part of his reign as King of Westeros.

His thirteen year old niece, Princess Aerea, took Balerion the Black Dread and flew away from Dragonstone one night and wasn't seen for a long time. The royal family searched high and low for her all over Westeros before figuring she ended up going to Essos or any other region east of their home continent. They gave out rewards for any information to where her and Balerion's whereabouts were and neither wouldn't be seen for years.

That wasn't until Balerion returned to King's Landing.

The moment the old dragon touched the ground, Aerea slid and fell off his back. She was hardly recognizable from those in court with her barely wearing rags in her frail and battered figure. Her beautiful silvery-blonde hair was a tangled and matted mess and her body was so hot that it felt like one was placed in a boiling pot of oil in an instant. And shortly after her return, the Targaryen princess was taken to a maester in hopes of healing her.

Yet upon being administered came a horrid sight that was recorded, to which Oberyn found and read in his time in the Citadel.

Aerea's body was practically skin and bones, yet there were swellings underneath her skin… as if there were worm, snake-like _things_ living inside of her. They moved and twisted in hopes of escaping their odd confinement, all the while giving the Targaryen princess insurmountable pain. And it wasn't just that, but before the maester attempted to pull out the _things_ , her flesh started to darken and crack with thin tendrils of smoke escaping from all openings of her body. That meant from her mouth, her ears, nostrils, her skin… and nether regions as if she was being cooked from the inside out.

She begged for death as the maester tried to find a way to heal her. In hopes of stopping her fever, the man dipped her into an icy bath. The shock of the immersion stopped her heart, thus granting her Death's merciful embrace.

And it wasn't just Aerea that suffered wounds -though not as life-ending- but it was also the Dreaded Black Dragon of the royal family.

The mighty and fearsome beast suffered half-healed scars that no one ever recalled him having before his departure years prior. They were all jagged from his left side, being nine feet long and there was a gaping red wound where blood still dripped from as it was hot and smoking.

The maesters soon dwelled into where the pair went off to which dealt in such… bodily harms. And after some research, they theorized Balerion ended up taking Aerea back to his homeland of Old Valyria, due to what horrors the maester had cut out of the princess' corpse before her cremation funeral rights. Either there or some unknown region of Sothoryos as it's much of a dangerous place equal to or more so than Valyria after the Doom.

Whatever happened will only be known to the gods and the deceased Targaryen princess and dragon.

Regardless of this fact, Jaehaerys issued a law forbidding any ship suspected of having visited the Valyrian islands or sailing remotely close to them from landing to any Westerosi port and harbor. This even threatened with either pain or death in hopes of anyone avoiding the same fate the king's own daughter suffered.

...Yet this law is often ignored as no real proof could be proven time and time again. But most Lords and Ladies still learn this fact in order to give just punishments when time is needed.

"To be fair, I was keeping our ship a reasonable distance away from the Valyrian shore." Oberyn started out. "And in my defense, I wasn't even gonna set foot there. But~ a fallen star caught my attention," a cheeky grin formed on his face, "which soon lead to several benefits."

And with that, Oberyn regaled his time on the Valyrian island in search of the 'fallen star'. On how he met Naruto as they fought and defeated the armored golem that even towered over Gregor Clegane. Searching the shrine and acquiring its contents before the eventual confrontation with Tommen II.

"Excuse me if I'm skeptical about that, father." Tyene spoke with a raised brow; which is also mirrored by her siblings, her cousin and her Lord uncle. "But I highly doubt that you two fought against the ancient Lannister King of old."

Looking at his younger companion, the Viper nodded towards Naruto to give him the go ahead. Nodding in return, Naruto pulled out the one scroll containing Gerion Lannister's corpse, unfurled it to show the intricate inkwork before channeling chakra into the seal. And with a resounding *poof* and smoke, the body of Tywin Lannister's younger brother was revealed to the room's occupants with Brightroar in his grasp.

"I-It was all real?" Doran nervously spoke as eyed the corpse, even with seeing how it appeared in the first place before Naruto sealed the body and sword back into the scroll… with magic?

"Very, my Lord." Ellaria spoke up as she had a similar reaction just like the others present in the room. "It was hard for me to believe as well until I saw the evidence in front of me. After all, seeing can be believing."

"And this sword, in my hands, indeed came from that giant golem's weapon you mentioned, Naruto?" Muttered the Lord Paramount.

"Yeah, but I didn't say it was the only one." Naruto stated as he got varying looks from the room's occupants. "The halberd had enough material to make three weapons, one in your hands and the other two are are with Oby-san and Ella-san."

All of the chamber's other occupants looked towards Oberyn and Ellaria for confirmation, they both nodded with small smiles on their faces. Doran would like to believe it himself, but like the paramour in the room said moments ago: seeing can be believing.

"I'd like to see them, if you would."

Oberyn could only chuckle a little before looking at his older brother in his eye. "I think we can do one better."

 _ **-Training Grounds-**_

"This is pretty nice."

"Indeed it is." Stated the Viper as he showed Naruto to the palace's training grounds, where the guards and knights that reside in the city's limits better themselves. "With how much space this area has, it does wonders when I just want to fight loose and run wild."

"Not as big as the training grounds back home, with them being surrounded by open fields and forests and all." Naruto stated as he looked at the high walls and wide ground. "But at least this place is better than the two ships we tried sparing on."

Oberyn chuckled before responding back. "That's for sure."

As the two were chatting amongst themselves, several people stood on top of the higher levels looking down below at the coming match. Ellaria and the Sand Snakes stood alongside Arianne, Trystane and Doran; with the later currently supporting himself with his new Valyrian steel cane sword. Asides from the seven family members, varying guards also looked onto the training field below as they were curious on what might happen soon enough.

"...This katana of yours is really beautiful, mama." Tyene said as she held her mother's unique looking sword. Even Trystane, Nymeria, Obara and Arianne had to marvel it's beauty as it's blade shined brightly against the sun.

"Well wait until you see your father's spear," the elder Snake started with a smirk, "then I think you'll really be impressed."

"I probably will." Obara said as she waiting in anticipation. Out of Oberyn's three daughters currently present, the eldest amongst them was more into spears and lances more than any other weapon she trained under. Her half-sister, Nymeria, was more into whips while Tyene was more attuned with dual bladed weapons like knives and daggers.

"So... how do you want to do this, Oby-san?" Questioned the Uzumaki as he did some light stretches.

"I think using that Amaterasu sword of yours would be good." Answered the prince as he went off to the side as a servant came into the field and handed him his wrapped spear. Nodding in thanks, Oberyn unfurled it to reveal the gift Naruto helped make for him.

"Why's that?"

"Because, to me, that giant fucking carving knife of yours is quite unsettling."

"...Okay I can understand that since it's last owner was damn intimidating, who still scares me to this day."

"From the story you told Ellaria and I of your mission over at Wave country, I probably believe so." Spinning his snake themed spear around, it's vibrations sung through the air as Oberyn got familiar with its weight in his hands once more. "Maybe if I beat you, you can tell me more tales from your homeland."

"Sure~ Beat me…" The shinobi drawled out as he unwrapped his one arm slightly and channeled chakra into the seal before his greatsword and crude dagger came out in a plume of smoke. With them in his hands, Naruto went into a relaxed style as he pointed his sword at the Viper with his dagger laid against his held out arm. "We'll see about that, Oby-san."

"Then challenge accepted." Going into a traditional fighting style of his people, as it was not only elegant but also quite effective, he was ready to confront his young friend. "So shall we?"

"After you."

Accepting the invitation, Oberyn stepped forward and lunged his Viper's Kiss causing Naruto to block and parry the snake themed weapon before dodging an upward slash. Spinning his spear around, the Viper struck the shinobi from all sides before each attempt was blocked by the dagger and sword in an odd pattern. Backing up from Oberyn's attempts, Naruto soon dashed forward as he came in swinging his greatsword with his dagger soon following. The attacks came in at a rapid succession with it ending with the blade embedded itself into the ground before pulling it back up for an upward swing, bring up chunks of earth up into the air.

Not missing a beat, Oberyn moved out of the way so he wouldn't be struck by the falling earth before running at the blonde for a strike from behind. Acting quickly, Naruto spun around to block the attack with his sword before his dagger came in close. The Viper moved his head back so it wouldn't get cut by the crude blade before moving away from the quick moves the blonde seemingly had.

Though this attempt failed, Naruto followed through by stabbing the dagger into the ground and went in low to sweep Oberyn off of his feet with his greatsword. This caused the Viper to quickly back away, but not fast enough as his legs were hit before tumbling down slightly. The blonde repeated his attack again and again, but on those follow up times, the prince used Viper's Kiss to block each of the strikes before leaping into the air to strike Naruto from above.

Barely seeing this coming, the Uzumaki backrolled out of the way to evade the blow. But not wanting to waste it, Oberyn dug the spear into the earth and pivoted himself using the sturdy metal to keep falling forward, land on his feet, and used his strength to perform a strong attack of having his spear dig itself out and go into an arcing attack from up high. Getting out of the way in time, Naruto backrolled once again to evade the crushing attack which caused more of the ground below to crack.

'Damn… That is going to take some getting used to.' Thought the Viper as he rested a little from the attack. He always wanted to do this sort of move for a long time, but whatever spears he used in the past would only break from the strain. Though with Viper's Kiss, he might have found a new set of possibilities for his fighting style.

Narrowing his eyes slightly with a small smirk, Naruto ran at Oberyn before leaping into the air. With how much height he has right now gave him enough space to twist his body around to perform a spinning slash attack. The Viper blocked the attack with his deadly Kiss with a spinning attack as well to cancel the coming blow. The sounds of the two steels were humming into the air as the two combatants were truly getting into their dance of death. Moving at quicken paces, their weapons were practically singing with how fast the attacks, blocks and parries were being carried out.

At some point, Naruto was able to get in close and swiftly kicked Oberyn to the ground. The prince recovered quickly by copying and adapting the Uzumaki's attack performed earlier by extending and swinging his spear around in a full circle to give himself some space. Once back up, the Viper dashed forward and lunged his spear at Naruto with one arm holding his deadly Kiss, who parried it with his greatsword and poised his dagger at the prince's throat.

"I believe this is my win."

"True… unless you have noticed this." Stated the Viper as Naruto felt a dagger's blade aim at a vital area above his waist. Looking down for confirmation, the blonde saw the Dornishman have his other hand armed with one of the daggers he keeps on hand.

"Okay. Then a draw I guess." Naruto said with a held out arm, curling three fingers to only have his pointer and middle fingers out.

Oberyn chuckled with a wide smirk before nodding and following Naruto's little action. "Very."

Their respective fingers contacted each other before forming some sort of handshake.

Most of the onlookers adopted curious looks upon seeing this, causing Trystane to voice the question on their minds. "What is that they're doing?"

His uncle's paramour was the one to answer. "Naruto called it the seal of reconciliation. A tradition from his home village to do after every match. Kind of like a greeting."

"Looks weird." Tyene muttered before clapping her hands for the pleasant show in front of them. "But then again, we just met him while you've known him for weeks."

Hearing the now growing applause coming from the spectators, the two fighters looked up to see them wearing varying smiles on their faces. Clearly enjoyed the sparring session as it was something neither of them expected to witness. With Oberyn, he decided to bow towards the spectators with a wide grin as Naruto placed his dagger into his belt while spinning his greatsword for a moment before resting it onto his shoulder.

Looking at the blonde Uzumaki, a thought crossed Doran's mind. 'This boy might prove fruitful towards our House in glory… or destruction. I pray my brother's action doesn't lead us towards the later.' Seeing his family members walk towards the lower level to meet the two combatants, he soon followed with a steady pace with his new cane giving him support. 'For now, I must sate my curiosity on a good number of things.'

The leader of Dorne took his time getting to his destination with his personal bodyguard following not far behind. With each grimacing step he took, Doran took a deep breath to hold in the pain he was feeling. The 'rich-man's disease' was getting to him in these passing years and each moment is a grueling event for him to endure.

Each time he moved, voluntarily and involuntarily, he experienced pain. If he walked, his joints were inflamed. Tossing and turning in his bed, couch or any comfortable seat wasn't relaxing at all.

Hell, Doran can barely remember the last time he fully relaxed as it's been years without varying levels of pain running through his limbs.

The only way for him to _somewhat_ be relieved of this gout was with all of the lotions and potions administered to him by the resident maester, Caleotte, throughout parts of the day. In the mornings once rising out of bed, he needs to apply wraps soaked in the created lotions onto his many joints to help sooth the pain with the same being done before going to bed. And the potions would need to be taken before each of his meals to help delude the pain.

Despite his body becoming weaker with each passing day, his will and his convictions remained strong.

Once arriving at the bottom level, Doran was greeted with the sight of his brother's paramour and children -along with his own- interacting with the combatants. Each of them voiced their own appreciation on the fight while taking turns of inspecting the Valyrian steel weapons in their possession.

By the time he got close, the Dornish leader saw his only daughter holding Naruto's greatsword. And by the looks of it, she struggled a little due to its weight. "Be careful, Arianne. I don't want to see you hurt."

"I know, father." The princess of Dorne said without looking towards him as her eyes were primarily focused on the weapon before briefly peering at the dagger tied to his waist. "So these were the sword and dagger Tommen II used against you and Uncle Oberyn, correct?"

"Right you are, Princess." Naruto said with his fox-like grin. "I've grown quite attached to it after Oby-san and I finished off that arrogant prick."

Arianne giggled. 'His smile is rather cute.' She thought before voicing something that crossed her mind. "And what of the weapon you used to fight against the arrogant King of the Rock?"

In response, Naruto gently took back Amaterasu from Arianne's grasp before stabbing the blade into the ground. He then unwrapped part of the cloth around his arm before channeling chakra into the seal. In a puff of smoke, his Kiri executioner sword appeared within his hand.

"This suffice your curiosity?"

The present Sand daughters, Doran and his children and many of the Dornish guards were surprised upon seeing the weapon that appeared from out of nowhere. It was very intimidating in both its size and design. Not to mention the feeling of unsettling bloodlust the oversized cleaver gave off. Even questioning how Naruto was able to hold the thing with just one hand as it was longer than his entire height and then some, not to mention it's supposed weight.

"...Mind if we discuss things further in a more… private setting?" Doran requested while steadying himself. "And would you mind putting that away?"

Naruto blinked before seeing the unsettled reactions he was getting from Oberyn's daughters, Doran and his children while earning wary ones from the nearby guards. The shinobi nodded before resealing the Kubikiribōchō, causing the many viewers to relax to some degree. Though some feelings remained with them.

Which was rather understandable.

Yet to his surprise, Naruto caught a look of intrigue coming from some of the onlookers. Two were seen coming from Obara and Nymeria, figuring that since they were fighters they probably want to fight him very soon. One did come from Tyene, but it was more of worried curiosity in wondering how his acquired sword emanated such a feeling.

Yet the one that confused him the most came from Arianne… for some reason.

'Must be my imagination.' Was the thought before addressing the Dornish ruler. "Sorry about that, Prince Doran. Just didn't expect you guys to react that way.

"It's quite alright. You didn't know." Eased the elder prince before glancing at his brother. "Though I would've expected Oberyn could've warned you beforehand."

"And how would have I known you lot wouldn't handle seeing this butcher-sword?" Oberyn retorted.

"You've known him longer and is more of a fighter than any of us." The Viper merely rolled his eyes, getting Doran sigh in exasperation before slowly walking away. "Now come, we best get going."

Several of the family entourage went on ahead as they knew where the conversation was going to take place. The only ones that didn't follow the others were Doran (due to his gout slowing him down), his personal bodyguard, Arianne and Naruto as the later didn't want to seem rude to the ruler of Dorne.

Seeing the whiskered blonde hanging back a bit, Doran took a small opportunity to talk to the guest. "I admit, I never would've expected to technically have three Valyrian-steel weapons under our House when my brother returned."

Naruto looked at him with a questioning expression. "What do you mean technically?"

"Ellaria isn't exactly a member of my family, despite her giving birth to four of my brother's children." Doran answered as they entered a corridor. "Even though she's a bastard, she's still a member of House Uller." The Uzumaki nodded. "And I appreciate the gesture you've given us as my House never obtained one throughout its history."

"Your very welcome, then."

"But I do have concerns."

Naruto rose a brow when hearing this. "What ya mean by that?"

It was Arianne who beat her father to the punch. "It is rare for a House to have a Valyrian-steel weapon as only handfuls of them reside here in Westeros. The only one who had the most at a single time was House Targaryen with them having two in their possession. But that was before the Blackfyre's came into fruition." Rounding a corner, the princess continued. "What I'm getting at is that no House has ever had three before and… interesting factors might arise because of it."

"My daughter is right, Naruto. Word of this will eventually reach the other Houses of Westeros, thus they'll be seeking answers." Stated Doran. "One of which being where my brother acquired the steel to make so many."

"And another probably being who helped him get 'em." Naruto surmised.

"Exactly."

The shinobi scrunched his face a little. "Wish I knew this beforehand, but Oby-san didn't warn me about it." He then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That or he forgot."

"Knowing my brother, I wager the later."

The father/daughter pair then chuckled at Naruto's expense as he groaned. 'More crap he's pulling on to annoy the fuck outta me.'

"Judging by your look," Arianne began with a teasing smirk, "you dealt with some of his more… _unpleasing_ factors."

"...More than him keeping me up at night because him and Ella-san having sex _and_ his teasing?" Seeing the growing smirk on the princess' face said it all, causing the outworlder to groan once more.

Nothing much was said afterwards as the small group made it to some meeting chamber; where questions and answers would be exchanged pertaining the Uzumaki. Which would lead to the young man doing his best to properly respond while holding back some information or the whole story on who he is.

The only ones who know so far were the couple he'd been traveling with in these past weeks since coming to this world and not even them know all of him.

As Doran and his daughter sat down next to Trystane -with the one spear wielding bodyguard standing behind them- Naruto looked over at the other occupants of the chambers. Taking a small bit of breath, he spoke the obvious question lofting in the room. "So… whatcha wanna know about me?"

 _ **-Evening, Sunspear Guest Room-**_

A door opened up inside of a darkened room, allowing some amounts of torchlight to peer into the space. And walking through the entryway was the whiskered blonde with Arianne standing right outside of it.

"...And these would be your quarters during your stay here, Naruto." Spoke the heir of Sunspear with a small smile. "I hope it'll be sufficient for you."

Despite there not being much light entering the room, the shinobi was able to get a good read of the area. "I think so, Arianne. And I'll make due." He scratched the side of his head. "It's probably bigger than my place back in Konoha." Walking further in, he pulled out a tag from his pouch and steadily poured chakra into it to form a bright flame at it's top. "Probably not since my apartment had smaller, yet interconnecting rooms while layout is quite different. This -however- is just one big bedroom/living room that my entire apartment can fit into… once rearranging the room layout."

"Really?" She questioned as she entered the room while giving the guest a quizzical look. "Like what?"

"The living room I had is connected to my kitchen and down a hall has a door leading towards my restroom/washroom while another went into my bedroom."

The princess seemingly had a question mark appear above her head while imagining all of these factors mushed together. "How is it that you have a kitchen built into the living room? Wouldn't that cause an accidental fire in some way if you're not careful? And what of the washroom and-"

"Woah there, princess." He said onto her with a chuckle escaping his lips. "There are certain… amenities my homeland has that's no doubt different from your way of living."

"If you say so." She said while more questions arose within her pertaining the young man before her.

Much information was given by the Uzumaki as the Dornish princess and her family asked him various questions while Oberyn and his paramour didn't speak much at all.

What was his homeland like? What kind of occupation did he have that was able to match the Red Viper in combat? What occured after he left Old Valyria with Oberyn and Ellaria? Etc. Etc.

The unpredictable, knucklehead gave them various responses as truthfully as he could. Some of the information given was greatly received, which merely earned more interest. More so with the younger women in the room pertaining that back in Konoha, there were women who had the same occupation as him of being kunoichi. Even with a woman -Tsunade- being the leader of his village what spans roughly or more than the size of Dorne's capital.

Things then shifted onto Naruto, Oberyn and Ellaria talking about their time in Meereen. Suffice to say many of the chamber's occupants were quite skeptical as some of the facts were like some part of a murmur's play. For instance fighting a giant Valyrian beast and killing it, only for it to come back from the dead as a fiery corpse as it tried to kill Naruto.

This lead Naruto onto demonstrating some of his abilities like walking on walls, replacing himself with Trystane on his placement on one of the couches, summoning clones, and unsealing a giant Toad idol from a scroll before he and his copies lifted it up with ease. After this bit of display, the Uzumaki formed a sphere of powerful and condensed 'magic'; which he soon corrected to be chakra as to what his homeland called it.

The most unique aspect of his demonstration was when he took on the illusionary appearance of several people from his homeland. Curious about this, both Arianne and Tyene came up to Naruto's current form being that of his village's current leader and felt up 'her' clothed breasts. They thought it was quite the exaggeration, but the pair soon realized they were indeed real somehow; much to the disguised shinobi's embarrassment before returning to his normal appearance.

Oberyn laughed at Naruto's little expense when this happened.

"And what of your… little friend?" Arianne questioned as she briefly eyed Naruto's pouch at his hip.

Said 'little friend' crawled out of it's little confinement and went up Naruto's side before stopping at his shoulder. Turning away from the princess, Handy seemed to be looking at the current living quarters before leaping off and landing on the bed. It bounced for a few brief moments before getting a good feel of the sheets. It then faced Arianne as it soon gave her a thumbs up.

"Seems she likes it." Naruto commented as he noticed the Dornish girl's expression. "Oh, don't worry. You'll get used to her… in time. I sure did."

"I… hope so." She said with weary eyes as a cold feeling ran down her spine.

"Hopefully faster and better than your uncle."

This got her to laugh, elevating her mood due to the memory from earlier today.

The look on Naruto's face was rather crossed with his eyebrow twitching like crazy while Oberyn laughed pertaining being felt up by the two cousins. Everyone else saw the shinobi's look like he wanted to fight the Viper once more. Instead of physically harming by himself, Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out… a hand of all things.

Seeing this, Ellaria surprisingly squeaked and dived for cover while Oberyn was too distracted with his laughing. The others were curious on what was going on just as Naruto threw the feminine hand at Oberyn.

...The results were very _unique_ … Especially when hearing the infamous Red Viper scream like a girl when the hand latched onto his head.

The tables were turned -in a manner of speaking- as it was Naruto who was laughing now at Oberyn's expense. And it escalated a bit further seeing the shocked looks the room's other occupants wore due to what they were witnessing.

Yet things became unnerving for them upon seeing the odd hand becoming sentient as it leaped away from Oberyn's face and spider crawled towards Naruto. And it seemed to have a mind of its own as it smacked Naruto across the head while reprimanding it via hand gestures on what he recently did to it.

This merely rose more questions amongst the group while Naruto gave Handy a small, proper introduction.

And even after learning much about the whiskered blonde, there seemed to be more information he was leaving out. Given the looks Oberyn and Ellaria were wearing backed up this idea both Arianne and her father shared. Especially since they've never heard of Konoha before.

Then again, it's supposed to be a hidden village for a reason… as to what Naruto depicted.

Once Naruto answered their questions, he asked them his since it was only fair.

It was good for the most part as the Uzumaki tried to not go into any sensitive subjects, unintentionally that is. He only knew so much about the others in the room during the past weeks with Oberyn and Ellaria that what is going on right now would help fill in some blanks. From Oberyn's daughters being competitive against each other to Trystane wanting to be like his father once older to Arianne seemingly going through a late rebellious phase right now. Not to mention Doran's shaky relationship with his wife who he hasn't seen in years, due to him shipping his eldest son -Quentin- to the Yronwoods as a ward. This caused Mellario -his wife- to move back to Norvos as both had different views pertaining to fostering children as it was the last straw for her.

Didn't help that despite they married out of love, Doran and Mellario argued quite often.

Everything seemed fine after an hour or so into the conversation until Naruto questioned about the painting in the family gallery with the two kids in there. What was once a pleasant time went into a somber one as things were a little depressing when discussing who those people were. It was then Naruto learned about Elia Martell and her two children, Rhaenys and Aegon, for the first time and the sad fate that befell upon them.

Wanting to change subjects, Doran ordered a servant to bring bread and salt in order for the Uzumaki to have guest rights. Apparently with the conversations earlier, the Dornish ruler was thoroughly judging Naruto on his character and it seemed he was liking the blonde… to some degree.

"I best get going now, Naruto." Arianne said with a small smile. "It's getting late and I have tasks to perform in the morning."

"Of course. I don't wanna hold you up any longer, Arianne."

She nodded before walking out of the door. Giving him a quick 'good night', the Dornish princess closed the door behind here. This left Naruto and Handy in the room to do anything in their leisure.

Sitting down on the bed, Naruto released a small sigh while running a hand through his head. "I admit, today was rather shaky for first impressions." He flopped down onto the bed before feeling Handy crawl up from his stomach and up to his face where it patted his whiskered cheek. "Thanks for your concern, but nothing can go perfect, ya'know." The shinobi then rubbed his belly with a small smile crossing his face. "The food was great, though."

With the meeting in the one chamber done and over with, Naruto headed back towards the family gallery so he can properly pay his respects towards Elia and her kids. The blonde ended up talking to them for a while as he wished he would have met them with how great everyone else talked about the three.

Unbeknownst to him, several people overheard parts of the conversation and smiled on the little scene.

After that little moment the blonde asked around to where the palace's library was at so he can finally drop off all of the shrine's tomes he and Oberyn acquired last month. Naruto didn't see any sign of Maester Caleotte present until learning he was out of the palace to check on several people at Shadow City and at the Water Gardens. With that, Naruto unsealed the tomes from his scroll and left a note for the maester on the details involved with them before leaving the area.

As much as he'd like to check out some books on Westerosi history, among other subjects, Naruto doesn't want to cause problems without the maester possibly authorizing it or something of that nature.

Sometime afterwards, Naruto was brought into the dining hall where the small feast took place. It was pretty nice on what he experienced and wondered what a bigger one would've been like here in Westeros. During the little event, Naruto sat next to Tyene while being in front of Arianne as he occasionally chatted with the two young women. Things were good as he ate the delicious food, but he kept seeing odd glances from the pair every so often. They weren't threatening or bad in anyway, just curious in nature, if he guessed it right, with something else into the mix.

In the end, Naruto got back his forehead protector from Oberyn before Arianne escorted him to the guest room he'll be assigned for his stay at Sunspear.

The shinobi soon got up from the bed in order to undress himself and end up in his boxer shorts. Putting everything else towards the side in a neat pile, Naruto let out a small yawn as the food was finally starting to hit him. After all, he did eat quite a lot due to his high metabolism but didn't try to pig himself out with him at a party. Ayame and Teuchi taught him better than that.

Letting out a small, depressed sigh Naruto muttered once again. "I miss them… Ayame, Teuchi, Granny Tsunade, Shizune…" He started off before other names came up through his head as got closer to bed. "I hope you guys are fine without me there."

Once underneath his covers, Naruto could only lay there as his mind went through several things all at once. Wondering how things in Konoha were doing after what happened in the retrieval mission last month. Was there a supposed fallback, in some way, towards him in general or what exactly? Naruto guessed that only Kami would know now.

Not wanting to have these be the last thoughts for the night before sleep took over, Naruto got out of bed so he can rummage through his backpack to pull out his one book he's been reading for a while now. Possibly a good read can help clear out his thoughts for a better sleep.

With it in hand, Naruto opened up the book to where he left off once he slipped back onto the mattress with the comfy sheets around him. Even with Handy crawling back onto his shoulder and got comfortable somehow on his shoulder in order to 'see' the pages. The young Uzumaki still cannot fathom how it can see with no possible way…

Was it the fingernails, perhaps? Hmmm, questions for later!

Going through it's passage, Naruto enjoyed the fantasy behind it before his eyes grew heavy but carried on with the reading, with him speaking out loud so the sentient hand could 'hear' the words.

 _...But despite her empowered Soul, the Maiden could only help the Undead in the goal to light up the First Flame… To hopefully end the accursed markings of the Darksign once and for all._

 _...Only in the ancient legends it is stated that one day, an Undead shall be chosen to leave the Asylum -in pilgrimage- to the land of the Ancient Lords for a greater purpose. This is what one particular Undead warrior has heard several times in his confined stay, to rot his cell. And one day, a man freed him from his confinement and helped give him purpose._

 _If he wants to, the warrior can help light the ancient flame to help others live the good life or let it burn out to bring on an Age of Darkness. Either way, the warrior had to leave the Asylum, a place where those marked with the accursed Dark Sign to await the end of the world, so he can finally pass on. It will not be an easy task as he will die again… and again… and again countless times._

 _But gaining the souls of others will help at least..._

 _ **-End Chapter-**_

 **Prince Doran's cane sword increases the owner's strength for obvious reasons. And like it's sibling blades -Viper's Kiss and Kusanagi- the cane sword has inherited the trait of breaking pose against one's opponent.**

 **AN:**

 **You guys know the whole song and dance with me pertaining work, errands and all that fun stuff. So I don't need to try and fully explain it again.**

 **Though I have been playing Dark Souls 3 again on some spare moments when I haven't felt like writing. Of course this chapter could've been done quicker as this chapter was mostly done with what I wanted to do on this rewrite, but I kept hitting blocks on what I wanted to add on and change exactly. As for certain interactions, they'll be no doubt expanded on in coming chapters as the previous story lacked in that department with varied characters.**

 **Then again, had a timeskip on that.**

 **Now the whole Jaehaerys I Targaryen law and what lead up to it is indeed a canon-ish thing as to what I read in George R.R. Martin's latest book Fire and Blood. Thought it was interesting and I wanted to at least put this down to add more mystery with what is possibly going on in the world of Ice and Fire/GoT.**

 **So I'm gonna get back into my Nobody story as I want to work on it once more. With the upcoming release of KH3, I wanna get into what I planned for the story with fighting interesting foes and traveling to other worlds. And when I do get back into this story, it'll be several chapters I'll be adding in before moving onto what I did on the old story with various changes in hopes of making it better.**

 **Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!**

 **R &R**


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